International Assembly

The International Ambassadors represent AASM members across the world. Ambassadors serve as liaisons for local members and the AASM with the intent to help advance the field of sleep medicine in local and regional territories.

Lourdes DelRosso, MD | Co-Chair
Region: Northern America

Lourdes DelRosso is the chair of the AASM International Assembly. She is currently an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington and sleep physician at Seattle Children’s Hospital. She has a strong interest in global sleep health. She is originally from Peru and has been involved in several international medical/educational trips. From 2014-2017, she was a fellow of public health at the University of Pennsylvania and was a member of the Penn in Latin America Steering Committee. Dr. DelRosso has served in the AASM as chair of the Education Committee and chair of the International Members Task Force. Her vision for the assembly is to promote a place within the AASM for international members to network, collaborate and have opportunities to share. Also, part of the mission of the assembly will be to expand sleep medicine knowledge to medical providers all over the world to improve access to the diagnosis and treatment of sleep disorders for everyone. She is happy to be a part of this initiative and looks forward to a great year ahead.

Ari Manuel, MBBS, MRCP, Bsc | Co-Chair
Region: Europe/Northern Europe

Ari Manuel is passionate about improving care for patients diagnosed with sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) in the U.K. During his clinical and academic career, Dr. Manuel’s guiding aim has always been to improve the patient pathway for those who have SDB. He has worked in sleep units for over 10 years in both a clinical and an academic capacity. During his academic tenure at Oxford, a key aspect to Dr. Manuel’s work was the ability to gather data, analyze and critique it to a high standard to synthesize useful conclusions. This led to a peer-reviewed publication and an editorial on his work in a well-known respiratory journal. He has had the opportunity to apply these skills in other forums, such as contributing to the British Thoracic Society (BTS) driving guidelines for patients with OSA. Dr. Manuel works on several national committees including BTS, Royal Society of Medicine, and British Sleep Society, which enables him to be aware of the current challenges to provision of services for patients with SDB. Dr. Manuel has appeared on national radio to promote healthy lifestyles and weight management to socially disadvantaged minorities. He is a medical trustee to Hope-2-Sleep, a sleep apnea charity, and has also worked with the British Lung Foundation.

Dimitrios Kantas, MD | Ambassador
Region: Europe/South Europe

Dimitrios Kantas graduated from Medical School of Ioannina, Greece in 2011. He pursued a fellowship in pulmonary and critical care medicine at University Hospital of Ioannina and one year fellowship in pulmonary and sleep medicine at University Hospitals Birmingham, United Kingdom. He also possesses a MSc in sleep medicine from National University of Athens, Greece. Currently, Dr. Kantas is a board certified pulmonologist/intensivist-somnologist, research fellow at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and PhD candidate with a thesis in racial differences OSA and cardiovascular risk. He is an active member of the European Respiratory Society sleep assembly 4 cooperation’s working group, member of the PAC advisory panel of AASM and associate editor of the REM section of JCSM. He is also a member of the European Sleep Research Society, Hellenic Sleep Research Society and British Sleep Society. His main goal will be to bridge sleep societies worldwide and increase the awareness of sleep disorders in the public.

Morenikeji Komolafe, MBBS, MD, FWACP | Ambassador
Region: Africa/Western Africa

Morenikeji Komolafe is a professor of neurology at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife Nigeria. She graduated from the University of Ibadan in 1990 with an MBBS degree and became a fellow of the West African College of Physicians in 2000. She obtained the post graduate diploma in clinical neurology at the Institute of Neurology, University College London in 2009. She participated in the Mini-Fellowship Program of the AASM in 2011 and was at the Center of Circadian and Sleep Medicine, University of Pennsylvania. In her institution, she coordinates the multidisciplinary sleep research team, supervises postgraduate students, and manages sleep disorders in the Neurology Clinic. Her current research focuses on effects of sleep deprivation in adolescents and health professionals, as well as sleep disorders in stroke, epilepsy, and sickle cell disease. In recent years, she has focused on improving the awareness of sleep disorders among health professionals by coordinating update lectures during World Sleep Day annually in March and sleep awareness efforts for students and talks on sleep disorders in the media.

Pei-Lin Lee, MD, PhD | Ambassador
Region: Asia/Eastern Asia

Pei-Lin Lee earned her M.D. from College of Medicine, China Medical University and Ph.D. from Graduate Institution of Clinical Medicine, National Taiwan University (NTU), College of Medicine. She received residency training in the Department of Internal Medicine and clinical fellow training in Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH). Her experience includes a role as a research fellow at Royal Infirmary Hospital, Edinburgh University, U.K. She also served as a member of the AASM International Member Task Force. Her current positions include clinical associate professor, NTU, College of Medicine; director, Center of Sleep Disorder; and attending physician, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, NTUH. Her academic positions include international ambassador, AASM International Assembly; committee member, Taiwan Society of Sleep Medicine; and member, Taiwan Society of Pulmonary and Critical Care, Sleep Medicine Task Force. Also, she serves in editorial role for PLOS ONE; Sleep and Breathing; and Thoracic Medicine. Her research interests include clinical phenotyping, molecular mechanism, and therapeutic intervention of obstructive sleep apnea. Her other works include sleep-disordered breathing in pediatrics and pregnancy. Her current focus is new technology and big data in sleep medicine.

Gaurav Nigam, MBBS | Ambassador
Region: Asia/Southeastern Asia

Dr. Gaurav Nigam is a triple board-certified physician. He is certified in sleep medicine by the American Board of Sleep Medicine and family practice by the American Board of Family Medicine and the American Board of Obesity Medicine. Dr. Nigam specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of sleep disorders and has published over 30 peer reviewed papers in esteemed journals worldwide. He is also a peer reviewer for various sleep medicine journals and is an editorial board member of Journal of Sleep Disorder and Therapy. His research interests in sleep medicine include central sleep apnea treatment, emergent central sleep apnea, and parasomnias. He is a true pioneer in the field of sleep research. During his fellowship at University of Michigan, Ann Arbor he published a seminal paper in Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine outlining a newly discovered sleep problem which they termed “sleep-related scratching.” Given his active contribution to the field in 2019, he was selected to the International Members Task Force committee to help grow the field in developing countries where there is a dearth of sleep medicine providers. In addition to sleep medicine, Dr. Nigam also enjoys practicing hospital and emergency medicine. When not practicing medicine, Dr. Nigam loves promoting health and wellbeing by giving community lectures on plant-based diets. He also enjoys tennis, traveling, hiking, yoga, and meditation.

Yuenan Ni, PhD | Ambassador
Region: China (Asia/Eastern Asia)

Yuenan Ni is a respiratory therapist/RPSGT and Assistant Professor in the West China Hospital, Sichuan University. She received her Sleep Medicine Research Training at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA. Her research interests include personalized treatment for sleep apnea, especially the effect of acetazolamide in patients with high loop gain, advanced sleep data analytics, and the predictors for positive airway pressure efficacy. She serves sleep apnea patients who have mixed pathophysiology including chronic pulmonary disease.

Cinthya Pena Orbea, MD | Ambassador
Region: Latin America/Central and South America

Cinthya Pena Orbea completed her internal medicine residency at Cook County Hospital in Chicago in 2017. She pursued a sleep medicine fellowship (2017-2018), followed by a hospital medicine fellowship (2018-2019) at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Currently, Dr. Pena Orbea is a staff physician at Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Cleveland, Ohio. Her main research interest focuses on developing innovative care paths to improve delivery of care and outcomes post-discharge in patients diagnosed with sleep-disordered breathing in the hospital.

Sameh Farag, MBChB | Ambassador
Region: Kenya (Africa/Eastern Africa)

Valentina Gnoni, MD | Ambassador
Region: Italy (Europe/Southern Europe)

Susan Kwan, MBBS FRCPC | Ambassador
Region: Canada (Northern America)