A plenary session will discuss sleep and Alzheimer’s disease. Blues Night will be a tribute to Bill Dement, MD, PhD.

Virtual SLEEP 2020, the 34th annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies LLC (APSS), is Aug 27-30, 2020, in a new online-only format. The meeting has live-streamed content as well as on-demand recorded sessions to view even after the conference ends.

The Virtual SLEEP 2020 scientific program begins with the plenary session on Thursday evening, Aug 27. The general sessions include abstract presentations, symposia, clinical workshops, and discussion groups on topics ranging from artificial intelligence and wearable technology to health disparities and sleep analytics. Clinical sleep specialists will discuss current practices in the diagnosis and treatment of sleep disorders such as insomnia, obstructive sleep apnea, and narcolepsy. Download the Virtual Sleep Guide for complete details.

E-poster presentations will be on display 24-hours a day from Aug 28-30, available on-demand. The Virtual SLEEP 2020 exhibit hall will be open starting on Aug 28. Attendees can access the exhibit hall through Aug. 1, 2021.

Highlights include:

  1. The unofficial kickoff starts this week. Starting Aug 13, Meet the Professor sessions are open and you don’t have to be a SLEEP ticket-holder to watch (though the sessions provide a glimpse of the great content you would receive as a SLEEP attendee). These one-hour sessions will be presented via Zoom.
  2. The Virtual SLEEP 2020 plenary session on Thursday evening, Aug. 27, will feature the keynote address, “Sleep and Alzheimer’s Disease: Bi-Directional Relationship With Amyloid-ß and Tau” by David M. Holtzman, MD, the Andrew B. and Gretchen P. Jones Professor of Neurology at Washington University – St. Louis.
  3. The abstract supplement, comprising more than 1,200 research abstracts, is available for download.
  4. Updates and discussion on social media: Follow @aasmorg and @ResearchSleep on Twitter for live updates, and use the official hashtag #SLEEP2020 to share your meeting-related content and see what attendees are saying.
  5. Virtual SLEEP 2020 offers a Technologist Track, which begins on Friday morning, Aug 28. This content is available to all SLEEP 2020 attendees and will be included in an on-demand format allowing convenient, self-paced learning.
  6. On Sunday afternoon, Aug 30, Mary Carskadon, PhD, professor at Brown University, will present the Thomas Roth Lecture of Excellence, “Adolescent Sleep, Sleepiness, and Circadian Timing.”
  7. Three lectures will address the effects of COVID-19 on sleep medicine and sleep research. Friday, Aug. 28, 11:30 a.m. – 12:15 p.m., COV-01: Sleeping Through an Emerging Pandemic, from Youth to the Elderly: How North Americans’ Sleep, Sleep Disorders, and Dreams Changed During the COVID-19 Outbreak. Sunday, Aug. 30, 2 p.m. – 3:45 p.m., COV-02: Navigating Sleep Medicine Services During the Pandemic: Realities, Challenges and Potential Solutions. Sunday, Aug. 30, 4 p.m. – 4:45 p.m., COV-03: Sleep and Mental Health in Healthcare Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Data, Implications, and Therapeutic Approaches.
  8. Saturday evening, Aug. 29, is Blues Night: A Tribute to Dr. Bill Dement. This special event for Virtual SLEEP 2020 attendees will celebrate Dement’s life, legacy, and love of music. As a scientist, physician, educator, and advocate, Dement played a foundational role in the development of the fields of sleep medicine and sleep and circadian research.

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