Gold Standard - Sleep ISR

Scott G. Williams, MD

Scott G. Williams, MD, is a co-chair of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine Adult ISR gold standard panel. He is board certified in internal medicine, psychiatry and sleep medicine and currently serves as the Director of the Center for Military Psychiatry and Neuroscience at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. He has previously served as Director for Medicine, Fort Belvoir Hospital, medical director of sleep medicine at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and chief of sleep medicine at the Womack Army Medical Center. He is an associate professor of medicine and psychiatry at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences and has served as chair of the AASM technologist and respiratory therapist education committee.

Michael J. Zachek, MD

Michael J. Zachek, MD is a co-chair of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine Adult ISR gold standard panel. He is board certified in internal medicine, pulmonary and critical care medicine as well as sleep medicine and has been working in the field of sleep for more than two decades. He is the medical director of three accredited sleep centers and his AASM functions include being a site visitor for both center and DME certification as well as serving as a gold standard scorer. He believes that developing a national consensus regarding the scoring of polysomnography is vital for improving sleep research and patient care.

Christopher R. Hope, MD, MHA, FAASM

Christopher R. Hope, MD, MHA, FAASM, is board-certified in sleep medicine and psychiatry and currently serves as the medical director of the East Alabama Health Sleep Health Center and is an associate professor at the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine – Auburn Campus. He has particular interest in quality improvement methods in sleep medicine, issues in sleep center management, and workforce development of the sleep team. He currently serves as chair of the AASM sleep technologist and respiratory therapist education committee, and is course director of the AASM A-STEP CCSH course. His healthcare career began as a sleep technologist and earned his RPSGT in 2003.

Faye Burnette, RRT, RPSGT

Faye Burnette, RRT, RPSGT is the supervisor of the Sleep Disorders Center at Womack Army Medical Center, Fort Bragg, NC. She has 35 years of experience in healthcare beginning as a cardiology technician then to a respiratory therapist and finally moving to a full-time sleep technology position 15 years ago. She received her AAS in Respiratory Therapy from Fayetteville Technical Community College in Fayetteville, NC and attended the University of North Carolina. She has been involved in sleep technology since 1995. Presently, she is the Supervisor of the Sleep Disorders Lab at Womack Army Medical Center, Fort Bragg, NC.

Claude Albertario, RST, RPSGT, FAASM

Claude Albertario, RST, RPSGT is Sleep Lab Specialist at the Weill Cornell Medicine Pediatric Sleep Center. He received his undergraduate training in Psychobiology at SUNY College at Purchase. Albertario began his career in Sleep Medicine in 1984 at Dr. Elliot Weitzman’s Institute of Chronobiology at New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center. Albertario obtained his RPSGT credential in 1990 (474), and received the RST credential in 2011 (#100). As an early advocate of digital recording methods, Albertario spearheaded an effort at the Winthrop University Hospital to become the first accredited, paperless sleep center in the world. He helped form the New York State Society of Sleep Medicine in 1998, helping to codify polysomnography into NYS law. His research interests revolve around his invention, z-ratio, (z-eeg.com) a unified metric of sleep/wake, and has delivered national and international presentations. He has previously served on the AASM Scoring Manual Committee (ver 2.5.) Albertario serves on both the Adult and Pediatric ISR panels as well as on the ABSM RST Exam Development Committee. Albertario was appointed an AASM Fellow in 2022. Albertario has OSA which he successfully manages with CPAP.

Kevin Kaplan, MD, FAASM

Dr. Kevin Kaplan is an associate professor of pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine in the section of pediatric pulmonary and sleep medicine at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston Texas. Dr. Kaplan attended medical school at the University of Texas at San Antonio. He completed his pediatric residency at St. Christopher's Hospital in Philadelphia Pennsylvania. He came to Baylor College of Medicine for his pediatric pulmonary and sleep medicine fellowships. After graduation he remained on faculty where he currently serves as the site director for the sleep medicine fellowship program. He also works as the medical director for Alvin Community College's polysomnography program.

Maninder Kalra, MD, PhD, FAASM

Maninder Kalra, MD, PhD, FAASM, is a board-certified pediatric pulmonologist and sleep medicine physician, who is the director of the Pediatric Sleep Medicine program. Dr. Kalra oversees a 14-bed pediatric sleep lab performing more than 2750 polysomnograms per year. He received his medical degree from the Punjab University, India, and completed his pediatric pulmonology and Sleep fellowship from Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. His research interest is in use of mobile health sensing technology and artificial intelligence analytic tools (K-health) to better define disease phenotypes and quantify the impact of sleep disorders on health outcomes.

Ameet S. Daftary, MD, MS, FAASM

Ameet S. Daftary, MD, MS, FAASM, is a board-certified pediatric pulmonologist and sleep medicine physician, who is the director of the Pediatric Sleep Medicine program at Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis. Dr. Daftary has practiced pediatric sleep medicine for 10 years and oversees a 16-bed pediatric sleep lab performing more than 3000 pediatric polysomnograms per year. He received his medical degree from the University of Bombay, India, and completed his pediatric pulmonology fellowship from Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. Dr. Daftary completed his sleep medicine fellowship at the University of Utah. His research interest is in the epidemiology of pediatric sleep disorders and clinical interest is in pediatric sleep-disordered breathing as well as non-invasive ventilation.

Claude Albertario, RST, RPSGT, FAASM

Matthew Balog, MPH, CCSH, RPSGT

Matthew J. Balog, MPH, CCSH, RPSGT, is a pediatric clinical sleep educator at Advocate Aurora Health (Park Ridge, IL). He holds a master’s in public health with a concentration in epidemiology and an undergraduate degree in chemistry and history. Balog currently serves as a board member for the Illinois Sleep Society and adjunct faculty for Moraine Valley Community College’s Sleep Technology Program where he teaches a course in pediatric sleep. His career in sleep medicine started in 2005, and he has been solely focused on pediatrics since 2010.

Gold Standard Panel