As part of the U of U Health's faculty awards, appointments, and recognitions in July 2021, the Sleep Wake Center team at the University of Utah Health has been selected as one of five People’s Choice Nominees in the American Academy of Sleep Medicine’s (AASM) 2021 Sleep Medicine Disruptors: Change Agents competition for their proposal and video presentation “University Sleep Medicine Program”.
The team included Kimberly Workman, RPSGT, a polysomnographic technologist; Leslie Williams, RPSGT, CCSH, RST, a polysomnographic technologist; Lara Funakoshi, RPSGT, CCSH, RST, Coordinator at the Sleep Wake Center; Nicole King, PA-C, a physician assistant for Internal Medicine; Darin Ryujin, PA-C, Associate Professor; and Krishna Sundar, MD, Medical Director of the Sleep Wake Center.
The AASM’s Sleep Medicine Disruptors: Change Agent is a unique virtual learning experience that will explore the disruptive innovations that will alter the health care landscape and the field of sleep medicine. The competition is designed to encourage sleep medicine practitioners, patients, or support staff to rethink the management of Obstructive Sleep Apnea. In this 6-week challenge, teams generated innovative ideas that challenged the status quo in sleep medicine. The proposals were reviewed by a distinguished panel of judges and the winners received up to $25,000 in prizes. The AASM received a large number of high-quality presentations for this year’s competition. Each was carefully considered based on the criteria outlined on the AASM’s website.
The Department of Internal Medicine congratulates the Sleep Wake Center team on their nomination and thanks them for their excellent work. To see the rest of the awards given, click here to read the Pulse article.