The American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) announced the recipients of the 2016 AASM awards, which will be presented on Monday, June 13, during the plenary session of the SLEEP 2016 Anniversary Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies LLC (APSS) in Denver.

“The American Academy of Sleep Medicine awards recognize individuals who have made lasting contributions to the field of sleep medicine in the areas of administration, academic research, public policy and education,” says AASM president Nathaniel Watson, MD, MSc, in a release. “I congratulate each of the recipients of the 2016 awards and appreciate all that they have done to help the AASM achieve its mission to improve sleep health and promote high quality, patient-centered care.”

The 2016 AASM award recipients, who were selected by the AASM board of directors, are:

  • Jerome A. Barrett: Nathaniel Kleitman Distinguished Service Award for dedication to the sleep field and significant contributions in the areas of administration, public relations and government affairs. As the executive director of the AASM since 1996, Barrett has helped strengthen the position of sleep medicine as a recognized medical subspecialty while overseeing the establishment of numerous programs, services, and resources that have greatly benefited the sleep field. He also serves at the executive director of the Sleep Research Society and American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine.
  • Carol A. Landis, PhD, RN, FAAN: William C. Dement Academic Achievement Award for exceptional initiative and progress in the areas of sleep education and academic research. Landis is a professor in biobehavioral nursing and health systems in the School of Nursing at the University of Washington in Seattle, where she also has served as director of the Sleep Research Laboratory. Her research interests include the health consequences of sleep deprivation, pain-related sleep disturbance in arthritis and fibromyalgia, and sleep problems unique to women.
  • Janet B. Croft, PhD: Mark O. Hatfield Public Policy or Advocacy Award for developing public policy that positively affects the healthy sleep of all Americans. Croft is chief of the Epidemiology and Surveillance Branch within the Division of Population Health in the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. Her career over the past 25 years at CDC has focused on identifying gaps in the epidemiologic assessment of heart failure, stroke, mental health, sleep, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and then developing new surveillance systems or improving existing systems to fill those gaps.
  • Neil Freedman, MD: Excellence in Education Award for outstanding contributions in the teaching of sleep medicine (co-recipient). Freedman is the head of pulmonary, critical care, allergy and immunology in the department of medicine at the Northshore University Health System in Evanston, Ill. He has served as a member of the APSS Program Committee; as faculty and chair for many postgraduate courses, conference sessions, and sleep technologist training offerings; as a member of the AASM PA and NP Task Force; and has been involved in the development and presentation of several of the AASM’s educational products.
  • Richard S. Rosenberg, PhD: Excellence in Education Award for outstanding contributions in the teaching of sleep medicine (co-recipient). Rosenberg served on the American Board of Sleep medicine (ABSM) board of directors from 1994-2000 and the AASM board of directors from 1999-2003. He then joined the AASM staff as senior director of science and research and subsequently as director of professional education. He played an integral role in the development of AASM education initiatives in the areas of accreditation, board review, sleep scoring, and sleep technologist education. He currently teaches in the psychology and human development departments at California State University, Long Beach.