Comprehensive and Collaborative Sleep Medicine Fellowship

Message from the System Director of Sleep Medicine

This Sleep Medicine Fellowship evolved out of a program focused on respiratory control, led by Neil Cherniack MD, started in 1978 which continues to the present time. A sleep laboratory in each of the core programs has been in place since 1982, initially driven by the clinical need to address sleep disordered breathing. Studies in animal models in the 1980’s demonstrated the effects of muscle stimulation, and hypoglossal nerve stimulation specifically, on upper airway patency, and the mechanical effects of negative pressure around the neck on snoring and upper airway patency. These became the basis for Inspire therapy (FDA approved in 2014) and Aer+, negative pressure therapy, currently in clinical trials. Our program has led the nation in addressing the epidemiology of sleep apnea through studies like the Cleveland Family Study and the Sleep Heart Health Core Laboratory, leading to current definitions of diagnostic criteria, risk analysis, and outcome endpoints. The research expertise has expanded into topics of insomnia and suicidality, community sleep ecology, and circadian influences on management of heart failure, diabetes, and chronic lung disease. A current focus is to define Sleep Health as a vital sign for the individual and community.

Accreditation as a training program in sleep medicine started first through the AASM internal Sleep Medicine Certificate in 1990 and evolved to an ACGME accreditation in 2008 for a multidisciplinary clinical and research program, with sleep centers in all three training sites- University Hospitals, Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center, and MetroHealth Medical Center. In each hospital, the outpatient delivery of sleep medicine and testing services has expanded. Since the beginning, pediatric medicine has integrated pediatrics into the learning environment, as the roots of adult sleep disorders often arise through early life and development, and the adult conditions are informed by presentations in childhood. Each fellow will gain competency in delivering care based on evidence, and the science of sleep and chronobiology.

Directors

Program Expertise from a Range of Sleep Experts

The program has expertise in critical evaluation of the educational transfer of knowledge about sleep. The Sleep Medicine Fellowship Program utilizes research programs at:

• UH Cleveland Medical Center
• Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
• Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center
• MetroHealth Medical Center

Our collaborative faculty members from these institutions serve as mentors, trainers, committee members or evaluators.