The Sleep Research Society (SRS) selected three of the world’s leading sleep scientists as recipients of the 2018 Sleep Research Society awards, which will be presented Monday, June 4, during the plenary session of SLEEP 2018, the 32nd annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies, LLC (APSS) in Baltimore.

“The Sleep Research Society awards recognize individuals who have made significant contributions to the field of sleep and circadian science,” said SRS President Sean P.A. Drummond, PhD. “This year we had a number of high-quality nominees, so the decision was not easy. I congratulate each of the recipients of the 2018 awards and appreciate all that they have done to help the SRS achieve its mission to advance sleep and circadian science.”

The 2018 SRS award recipients, who were selected by the SRS Board of Directors, are:

David F. Dinges, MS, MA, PhD
Distinguished Scientist Award for significant, original and sustained scientific contributions of a basic, clinical or theoretical nature to the sleep and circadian research field, made over an entire career
Dr. Dinges has been a tenured professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine for the past 25 years, during which time he has conducted sleep research supported by federal agencies, and taught sleep and chronobiology. His extensive body of published scientific work on the dynamic effects of sleep deprivation on human cognitive, neurobehavioral, and physiological functions, and on the consequences of sleep loss for health and safety, have been impactful in both scientific and policy areas.

As the SRS Distinguished Scientist Award recipient, Dr. Dinges also receives the honor of presenting an invited lecture at the SLEEP 2018 annual meeting. He will present the lecture, “The Dynamics of Sleep Need: What Do We Know? What Do We Need to Know?” on Wednesday, June 6, at the Baltimore Convention Center.

Chiara Cirelli, MD, PhD
Outstanding Scientific Achievement Award for novel and seminal discoveries of a basic, clinical or theoretical nature that have made a significant impact on the sleep field
Dr. Cirelli is a professor in the department of psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her research aims to understand the function of sleep and clarify the functional consequences of sleep loss. Her team identified neuronal and glial genes whose expression changes due to sleep and sleep loss, suggesting specific cellular processes that are favored by sleep and impaired by sleep deprivation. Using large-scale mutagenesis screening in Drosophila, they also identified the first extreme short sleeper mutant.

Sharon A. Keenan, REEGT, RPSGT, PhD, DABSM
Mary A. Carskadon Outstanding Educator Award for excellence in the field of education related to sleep medicine and sleep research
Dr. Keenan is founder and director of the School of Sleep Medicine, Inc. in Palo Alto, California. She served as the director of the Stanford University Sleep Disorders Center, Training and Education program under the direction of William C. Dement. Dr. Keenan teaches nationally and internationally and contributes to scientific journals and textbooks.

Photos are available upon request. For more information, please contact SRS Coordinator  at 630-737-9700, ext. 9321, or coordinator@srsnet.org.

About the Sleep Research Society
The Sleep Research Society (SRS) is a professional membership society that advances sleep and circadian science. The SRS provides forums for the exchange of information, establishes and maintains standards of reporting and classifies data in the field of sleep research, and collaborates with other organizations to foster scientific investigation on sleep and its disorders. The SRS also publishes the peer-reviewed, scientific journal SLEEP.