2018 Annual Report |

World Sleep Society is a nonprofit, membership-based organization representing sleep researchers and clinicians with programs focusing on awareness and education. Led by volunteers from around the world, we fulfill our mission to advance sleep health worldwide by encouraging education, research, and patient care, especially in regions where sleep medicine is less developed.

World Sleep Society (WSS) was founded in 2016. As a merger of two organizations, WSS will continue to operate programs of both the World Sleep Federation (WSF) and World Association of Sleep Medicine (WASM). Programs consist of education, awareness and member services.

Read the 2018 Year-End Letter from the President.

Officers
President: Charles Morin (Canada)
President elect: Birgit Högl (Austria)
Secretary: Yuichi Inoue (Japan)
Treasurer: Thomas Penzel (Germany)
Past President: Clete Kushida (US)

2018 Awareness and Education Activities included the following:

World Sleep Day on Friday, March 16, 2018
Preparations for the biennial sleep medicine congress World Sleep 2019, upcoming in September 2019 in Vancouver, Canada
Exams offered to individuals and societies
Individual and society memberships
Endorsed sleep education meetings
Monthly issues of Sleep Medicine journal
Guidelines for the treatments of sleep disorders
World Sleep Job Board
Continuation of networking within the online Sleep Directory

World Sleep Day 2018 Highlights

Read the 2018 Press release.

2018 World Sleep Day® Committee
Liborio Parrino (Italy), Chair
Richard Allan (U.S.A.)
Ximena Alvarado (Bolivia)
Manvir Bhatia (India)
Rayleigh Ping-Ying Chiang (Taiwan)
Miguel Meira e Cruz (Portugal)
Antonio Culebras (U.S.A.)
Ravi Gupta (India)
Lenise Jihe Kim (Brazil)
Elena M. Majano (El Salvador)
Ghulam Mustafa (Pakistan)
Laura Palagini (Italy)
Muhammad Sayed (U.S.A.)
Marta Gonçalves (Portugal)

2018 World Sleep Day Accomplishments

282+ official delegates joined the campaign
149 sleep awareness activities have been added to worldsleepday.org
55 countries have notified us of participation in World Sleep Day
NEW: Participation in the countries of Norway, Burkina Faso, Singapore, Bangladesh, Greece, Belgium, Trinidad and Tobago
Media mentions came in across the globe including USA Today, Men’s Health, CNBC, InStyle, HarpersBAZAAR, Psychology Today, MSN, Forbes, The Sunday Post and many more
#WorldSleepDay climbed to #1 on worldwide and #2 on the United States Top Trends on Twitter

2018 World Sleep Day Distinguished Activities Awards

Each year, a selection of Distinguished Activities is chosen by our World Sleep Day Committee. Winners receive one complimentary registration to attend the next World Sleep Congress to receive a trophy at the Opening Ceremony. Honorable Mentions will be invited on stage to receive a certificate of achievement.

Congratulations to the 2018 Distinguished Activity Awardees

Dr. Nagarajan Ramakrishnan (India) | Nithra Instiute of Sleep Sciences
Dr. Montida Veeravigrom (Thailand) | Sleep Society of Thailand
Dr Himanshu Garg & Dr Prerana Chopra (India) | Aviss Health, Centre for Sleep Disorders
Dr. Elena Majano (El Salvador) | Bernes Medical Sleep and Neurological Center
Mr. Lew Mun Yee (Multicountry) | AM LIFE INTERNATIONAL
Paula Araujo (Brazil) | Brazilian Sleep Society

2018 Honorable Mention

Dr. Petar Chipev, Prof. Ivan Staykov (Bulgaria) | Bulgarian Society of Somnology
Dr. Reut Gruber, Debbie Will-Dryden (Canada) | Canadian Sleep Society & Sleeping Children Around the World
Matilde Valencia-Flores & Montserrat Reséndiz-García (Mexico) | Sleep Disorders Clinic, UNAM and INCMNSZ
Dr. Laura Palagini (Italy) | AIMS
David Lira (Peru) | Instituto Peruano de Neurociencias – IPN
Dr. Antonio Culebras (United States) | Upstate Sleep Center
Luca Roberti (Italy) | Associazione Apnoici Italiani Onlus
Melissa Lipford, MD (United States) | Westin Hotels & Resorts
Jitka Bušková (Czech Republic) | NIMH

The next World Sleep Day will take place on March 15, 2019. For more information on World Sleep Day, including how to become a delegate, visit www.worldsleepday.org.

World Sleep 2019 Overview

September 20-15, 2019 in Vancouver, Canada

Extensive planning for the biennial congress took place in 2018. By the end of the year, World Sleep Society had scored and selected 12 keynote speakers and were in the process of scoring 160 submitted symposia. World Sleep 2019 will bring together more than 2,600 sleep medicine professionals from 75+ countries. The scientific program is projected to include 275+ hours of content.

Science Selection Completed in 2018 for World Sleep 2019

SYMPOSIUM
Accepted September 1, 2018 – December 1, 2018
Symposia provide you an opportunity to present concepts and new data to an interested and engaged, worldwide audience. Symposia proposals will be ranked according to scientific and clinical significance, relevance of the topic, timeliness of the research, and broadness of the topic’s appeal. Higher weight will be given to symposia with multi‐national participation.

Abstract Submissions for World Sleep 2019

ABSTRACTS
Varying submission dates between December 1-August 1, 2019
Submit research in any area of sleep medicine for inclusion as an oral abstract, poster abstract or young investigator presentation. All accepted abstracts are published in a Sleep Medicine journal supplement.

ORAL ABSTRACTS
Authors will be given 13 minutes to summarize their peer-reviewed research in a specific topic area, and presentations will be moderated by experts in the field. A brief question and answer time will conclude the session. Authors that are not selected to present an oral abstract, will be given the opportunity to present a poster abstract.

POSTER PRESENTATION
Authors will present their poster during one of three 90-minute poster abstract sessions. Posters can be presented at almost any stage of research and provide an excellent opportunity for authors to discuss their methods and findings with other professionals.

YOUNG or NEW INVESTIGATOR PRESENTATION
Two tiers of Young Investigator Awards will be offered to qualifying individuals at World Sleep 2019. The first-tier award will provide the opportunity for up to 18 individuals to present their abstract during a special Young Investigator oral abstract session. The second-tier awards will be presented for the top ranked young investigator poster abstracts each day. The application deadline is June 15, 2019.

Sleep Medicine Exam

The Sleep Medicine Examination was available for qualified candidates during World Sleep 2019 in Vancouver, Canada. Candidates were given four hours to successfully complete the 150-question exam to be awarded the International Sleep Specialist designation. In 2018, six candidates passed the exam.

Recipient Name	Exam Location	Year Awarded
Prasant Makhija	India	2018
Laxmi Khanna	India	2018
Mani Tiwari	India	2018
Rama Krishna Ravi Chandra Malapaka	India	2018
Gopal Raval	India	2018
Manisha Juvekar	India	2018

Developed in accordance with our mission to advance sleep health worldwide, the overarching goal of the exam is to provide an opportunity for individuals, especially those in underserved countries, to earn the sleep specialist designation. Read additional information related to the exam. Questions can be directed to Angie Granum at World Sleep Society.

Membership

In 2018, World Sleep Society’s global representation was 14,000 sleep professionals, plus 200 individual memberships and 33 Associate Society Members.

All individual memberships include the following benefits:

Access to international standards, best practices and current research in the field of Sleep Medicine
Access to Sleep Medicine journal (all memberships receive online and app access; full membership also includes printed journal)
Discount pricing for the biennial World Sleep Congress
Inclusion in and access to the World Sleep online directory of sleep medicine professionals around the globe
Eligibility to serve on WSS committees
Eligibility to participate and vote in WSS general assembly meetings
Receive ‘International Sleep Specialist Designation’ after successfully passing the WSS exam

Associate Society Members

The fundamental mission of World Sleep Society is to advance sleep health worldwide. In an effort to increase global awareness of sleep issues, WSS has formed a relationship with the following national sleep societies or regional federations (current as of December 2018): Listed in alphabetical order.

Asian Sleep Research Society – www.asrsonline.org
Asian Society of Sleep Medicine – www.aisansleep.org
Australasian Sleep Association – www.sleep.org.au
Australasian Sleep Technologist Association – sleeptechnologists.org
Austrian Sleep Research Association – www.schlafmedizin.at
Brazilian Sleep Society – www.absono.com.br
British Sleep Society – www.sleepsociety.org.uk
Bulgarian Association of Obstructive Sleep Apnea & Snoring – www.sleepapnea.bg
Canadian Sleep Society – www.css-scs.ca
Czech Sleep Research and Sleep Medicine Society – www.sleep-society.cz
European Sleep Research Society – www.esrs.eu
Federation of Latin American Sleep Societies
Finnish Sleep Research Society – www.sus.fi
French Society for Sleep Research and Sleep Medicine – www.sfrms.org
Georgian Sleep Research and Sleep Medicine Society
German Sleep Society – www.dgsm.de
Hong Kong Society of Sleep Medicine – www.hkssm.org
Indian Association of Surgeons for Sleep Apnoea – www.iassa.in
Indian Society for Sleep Research – www.issr.in
Integrated Sleep Medicine Society Japan – www.ismsj.org
International Pediatric Sleep Association – pedsleep.org
International Restless Legs Syndrome Study Group – www.irlssg.org
Israel Sleep Society
Japanese Society of Sleep Research – jssr.jp
Peruvian Association of Sleep Medicine (Apemes) – www.apemesperu.com
Romanian Association for Pediatric Sleep Disorders – www.somn-copii.ro
Russian Society of Somnologists – www.sleep.ru
Serbian Sleep Society – www.sss.rs
Sleep and Wakefulness Medicine Moroccan Federation – www.fmmsv.com
Sleep Research Society – www.sleepresearchsociety.org
South East Asian Academy of Sleep Medicine – www.seaasm.org
Taiwan Society of Sleep Medicine – www.tssm.org.tw
Turkish Sleep Medicine Society – www.tutd.org.tr

Endorsed Meetings

World Sleep Society strives to provide information, increase awareness, and champion advocacy on sleep and its disorders amongst both healthcare workers and the general public. In an effort to raise awareness, we promote sleep meetings around the world.

In 2018, WSS endorsed more than 30 sleep meetings and conferences around the world. If your society has an upcoming meeting and would like to list it with us, learn more about our endorsed meetings.

Growth in Outreach

It’s an exciting time in sleep medicine and research! From 2016 through 2018, World Sleep Society’s growth has been noteworthy. Our World Sleep Congress attendance increased 33.8%. Our digital mailing list saw an 80% increase in opt-ins. And in social media, WSS’s Twitter page grew 191% and Facebook followers increased over 53%.

Content articles created in 2018

The Sleep Secret Experts Prioritize (And why you should too) How much sleep are leading sleep experts getting? Are they getting the recommended amount? We interviewed five internationally-renowned sleep experts to find out.	10 Ways to Improve Your Sleep: Tips from World Sleep Society For the past decade, the CDC has reported that 1/3 of Americans do not get adequate sleep. Our list of sleep tips aims to help.
Sundowning: The Sleep Disorder that May Be Affecting Your Loved One with Dementia There are close to 100 disorders of sleep. Sundowning is just one of them.	Prevalent, Significant, Costly: The Chronic Inability to Sleep Sleep disorders such as insomnia need to be viewed as the high-level health factor that it is.
Sleep Apnea & Stroke The symbiotic relationship you need to know about	Low-income toddlers are not getting enough sleep How one pediatric sleep researcher is finding biological evidence

World Sleep Society will continue to operate programs of both the World Sleep Federation (WSF) and World Association of Sleep Medicine (WASM). Programs consist of education, awareness, and member services.

Past Annual Reports available online: