Eigth International Conference on Sleep and Breathing

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston MA

Investigators

Abstract

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Obstructive sleep apnea is a common disorder with serious health consequences, including cardiovascular and neurocognitive dysfunction. While sleep apnea has traditionally been thought of as a disorder of respiratory control, many of the basic sciences necessary to the understanding of the complex pathophysiology of the disorder, and much of the expertise necessary to explain these consequences, lie outside the sphere of traditional respiratory physiology. Disciplines such as computer modeling, glucose metabolism, vascular biology, cognitive sciences, genetics, sleep neurobiology, and functional imaging are increasingly relevant to our understanding of the clinical spectrum of sleep apnea and other respiratory disorders of sleep. Traditional scientific meetings, however, usually fail to provide an opportunity for researchers in these different disciplines to interact. The goal of this proposal is to organize a symposium that assembles leading national and international scientists working on basic aspects of sleep and control of breathing together with investigators from a broad array of other fields. The proposed conference will be the eighth in a series of meetings that have addressed the causes and consequences of sleep-disordered breathing. With support from the National Institutes of Health these prior meetings have helped to guide the research agenda for this important area of investigation. The proposed meeting will highlight novel research from NIH-funded investigators and will provide a forum for interaction among these scientists.