Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Welcome to the SLEEP 2009 Blog

Welcome to the official blog of SLEEP 2009, the 23rd Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies, a joint venture of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the Sleep Research Society.

More than 6,500 sleep specialists, sleep scientists, sleep technologists, allied health professionals and students are expected to attend SLEEP 2009 at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center in downtown Seattle, Wash. The scientific program will begin with the plenary session at 8 a.m. Pacific Time on Monday, June 8.

During the plenary session Dr. Howard Roffwarg will give the keynote address on “Participation of REM Sleep in the Development of the Brain: Starting Hypothesis, Unfolding Data, Current Perspective.” Roffwarg is professor of psychiatry and human behavior, and director of the departmental division of sleep medicine, at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, Miss.

More than 1,300
research abstracts will be presented at SLEEP 2009. The scientific program also includes symposia, clinical workshops and discussion groups on topics ranging from neuroscience and genetics to dreams, sleep deprivation and aging. Clinical sleep specialists will discuss current practices in the diagnosis and treatment of sleep disorders such as insomnia, narcolepsy, and sleep apnea.

The meeting also features an
exhibit hall with booth displays from about 120 pharmaceutical companies, equipment manufacturers, medical publishers, software companies, professional organizations and schools.

Look for live updates to be posted to the SLEEP 2009 blog from the morning of Monday, June 8, until SLEEP 2009 ends at 12:15 p.m. Pacific Time on Thursday, June 11. If you’re unable to attend SLEEP 2009, then this blog will keep you up to date with breaking news and research highlights from Seattle.