SPECIALTY AND TITLE

Associate Professor (Stroke and Sleep Neurology)

HOSPITAL AFFILIATIONS

Staff Neurologist (Stroke & Sleep), Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
Associate Scientist, Sunnybrook Research Institute
Medical Lead, Sunnybrook Sleep Laboratory

UNIVERSITY AFFILIATIONS

Associate Professor, University of Toronto
Graduate Faculty, School of Graduate Studies, University of Toronto

AREA OF RESEARCH

• Association of sleep disorders with transient ischemic attack (TIA), stroke, dementia/cognitive impairment, and other neurological disorders
• Neurophysiological aspects of sleep (e.g., electroencephalography, eye and limb movement detection)
• Home and in-hospital sleep monitoring
• Establishing normative values for sleep studies.
• Developing novel approaches to manage sleep disorders

MAJOR CONTRIBUTIONS TO SCIENCE AND/OR HEALTH CARE DELIVER

To maximize the number of patients with harmful sleep disorders that can be diagnosed and managed, I have developed a research program that has extensively evaluated the use of ambulatory sleep equipment in neurological populations. For the detection of sleep apnea, the most common sleep disorder, my research team demonstrated the feasibility of an unattended, easy-to-use, home sleep apnea test in patients with stroke/TIA2 and cognitive impairment3. I subsequently led the “SLEAP SMART” randomized controlled trial which demonstrated that use of a home sleep apnea test, compared to an in-laboratory sleep study, improved patient outcomes. Future work will examine other patient populations.