Who we are
The American Sleep Apnea Association, founded in 1990, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that promotes awareness of sleep apnea, works for continuing improvements in treatments for this serious disease, and advocates for the interests of sleep apnea patients. Our mission is simple:
The American Sleep Apnea Association is dedicated to reducing injury, disability, and death from sleep apnea and to enhancing the well-being of those affected by this common disorder. The ASAA promotes education and awareness, the ASAA A.W.A.K.E. Network of voluntary mutual support groups, research, and continuous improvement of care.
The association's governing board of directors and its executive director are profiled here. The board includes both health care professionals and patients and patient advocates among its members. ASAA policy, however, requires that a majority of the directors always be patients and their advocates. The bylaws also require that the chair of the board be a patient or patient advocate. The founders put these rules in place in the ASAA's early days to ensure that the ASAA would always be a patient-driven organization. The ASAA president is a physician who serves as well as the organization's chief medical officer.
As part of its endeavors to increase understanding of sleep apnea, the ASAA fulfills thousands of requests for information from the public each year and answers a multitude of questions about diagnosis and treatment options. The ASAA works with other nonprofit organizations and societies of health care professionals to reach the undiagnosed. The ASAA serves as an advocate for people with sleep apnea and assists them in living with this disorder and its repercussions. In short, it develops material and programs in direct response to the public's needs.
Information about sleep, sleep disorders, sleep apnea, and ASAA's programs and resources is spread throughout this web site. We hope that you will return frequently to explore, both to learn from what's here now and to discover new material as it is posted.
To conduct its programs and activities, the ASAA relies on your donations, from members' dues, and from annual contributions by members of the Industry Roundtable, and by Friends of the ASAA, . We are deeply grateful to all of you.
Please contact us if you need additional information.
