We are saddened to announce the passing of Dr. William Dement, the sleep medicine pioneer who helped launch SleepQuest. If you’re not aware of Dr. Dement’s legacy, here’s a quick look at his accomplishments and the overall impact he had in the field of sleep medicine.
A teacher at heart, Dr. Dement provided courses and lectures to generations of undergraduates, medical students, primary care physicians, and the general public.
Dr. Dement has been called the “Father of Sleep Medicine,” as sleep medicine was his subspecialty. Since sleep contributes so strongly to a person’s daily functioning, he advocated for sleep medicine to become a medical specialty, as with cardiology and diabetes.
His dream was that the millions of patients who are suffering from sleep disorders would get the diagnosis and treatment they needed, so they would get the restorative sleep they deserved.
Specifically, he wanted to ensure that those with sleep apnea would be diagnosed and treated. He believed that with a properly conducted home sleep study, interpreted by a board-certified sleep physician, one could diagnose and treat the masses expeditiously at tremendous savings to society.Dr. Dement and our founding CEO, Robert Koenigsberg enjoyed a professional relationship and friendship during the past twenty plus years. He’ll be remembered by all his students of his popular undergraduate course “Sleep and Dreams”, by recognizing and loudly professing that “Drowsiness is Red Alert”. Dr. Rafael Pelayo will continue to teach this course at Stanford as he has done with him over the past several years.
All of us here at SleepQuest will miss his visionary guidance, but will always vow to continue on the path he started us on. We extend our deepest sympathy to all of his family and friends.
You can learn more about Dr. Dement’s legacy: https://www.sleepquest.com/memoriam-of-dr-dement/
