COVID-19 & Sleep Medicine | AASM Presidential Town Hall Forum
Thursday, Sept. 10 – 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. Eastern Time
During this live webinar, AASM President Dr. Kannan Ramar will present the results of the recent COVID-19 pulse survey of AASM members, and he will discuss the findings of the survey with two panelists. Topics will include the impact of the pandemic on sleep medicine professionals and sleep disorders centers, AASM initiatives to support the sleep field, and advocacy priorities. The webinar will conclude with a moderated Q&A session to respond to questions submitted by attendees.
Presenter: Kannan Ramar, MD
Dr. Ramar is the 2020 – 2021 president of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. He is a sleep medicine physician at the Center for Sleep Medicine and a professor of medicine in the division of pulmonary and critical care medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, where he serves as the safety officer for Mayo Clinic, Rochester and as the assistant dean of clinical learning environment optimization (CLEO) through the Mayo Clinic School of Graduate Medical Education. Dr. Ramar also serves on the board of directors of the AASM Foundation, American Board of Sleep Medicine, and Minnesota Alliance for Patient Safety.
Panelist: Indira Gurubhagavatula, MD, MPH
Dr. Gurubhagavatula is chair of the AASM COVID-19 Task Force and previously served as chair of the AASM Public Safety Committee, Occupational Sleep Wellness Committee, and Transportation Safety Task Force. She is an associate professor of medicine and director of the sleep medicine fellowship training program in the Division of Sleep Medicine of the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Dr. Gurubhagavatula also is an attending physician in the Corporal Michael Crescenz VA Medical Center.
Panelist: Thomas Speer, PhD
Dr. Speer is chair of the new AASM Advocacy Committee, previously served on the AASM Political Action Committee, and has been an accreditation site visitor for the AASM since 2007. Before recently retiring, he was a clinical associate professor in the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. He also was the director of the Institute of Sleep Medicine at the Diagnostic Clinic of Houston and has served as director of Sleep Centers of Texas.