An interdisciplinary panel of experts will present the Sleep Clinical Core Curriculum during two sessions on Wednesday, May 18, the final day of the ATS 2022 International Conference. The presenters will address important sleep disorders that most pulmonologists encounter but may not be as comfortable addressing.

“Pulmonologists are focused typically on obstructive sleep apnea because that’s a sleep breathing disorder, but in these sessions they get an opportunity to learn about and dive into aspects of diagnosis and management of other sleep disorders that also occur and can be seen in their patients,” said session Chair Shirin Shafazand, MD, MS, ATSF, professor of pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine and director of the MD/MPH Program at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.

The first session, 10:45 a.m.–12:45 p.m. PT, will address narcolepsy, insomnia, and circadian rhythm. The second, 12:45–2:15 p.m. PT, will address periodic limb movement, restless leg syndrome, and disparities in sleep health. Both take place in Room 2014/2016 (West Building, Level 2), Moscone Center.

“The goal of the Core Curriculum is to serve as an up-to-date synopsis and review of the state-of-the-art knowledge of these various topics,” Dr. Shafazand said. “For pulmonologists and other health care providers who, day in and day out, may deal with patients who have sleep concerns, this will be a very good review.”

The faculty includes pulmonologists and neurologists. Katherine Ann Dudley, MD, MPH, instructor in medicine at Harvard Medical School, is the co-chair of the session.

Kiran Maski, MD, MPH, sleep clinic director in the Department of Neurology at Boston Children’s Hospital and assistant professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School, will discuss the diagnosis and management of narcolepsy.

Hugo L. Paz y Mar, MD, clinical assistant professor of medicine, University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, will explain the medical and psychological consequences of insomnia.

Sabra Abbott, MD, PhD, assistant professor of neurology and sleep medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, will outline the dynamics of circadian rhythm disorders, how to deal with the effects of jet lag and shift work, and the desynchrony patients experience between daylight and what their bodies’ sleep needs are. 

Anna Michelle May, MD, MS, staff physician at Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center, will address the diagnosis and management of PLM and RLS.

Chandra Jackson, PhD, MS, an Earl Stadtman Investigator in the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health, will identify disparities in sleep health and strategies for overcoming them.

“For a variety of reasons, certain populations are experiencing a greater burden of sleep disorders, and more research is needed on how to recognize and implement strategies that can help specific populations that are experiencing sleep health disparities,” Dr. Shafazand said. “The sleep disparities session is a nice overview of all topics discussed in the sleep core sessions from the perspective of populations that are experiencing inequities in sleep health. It provides an opportunity to highlight additional research that is needed and possible solutions to improve sleep health in all populations.”