The mission of the AASM Foundation is to lead the field in academic sleep medicine in terms of research and education, aiming to enhance sleep health for all through funding initiatives. The RLS Foundation focuses on improving care and seeking cures for those affected by Restless Legs Syndrome through research, education, and connecting communities.
The Strategic Research Grant by the AASM Foundation supports high-impact, investigator-initiated research projects focused on addressing gaps in knowledge regarding the optimal, patient-centered, cost-effective diagnosis and care for people with sleep disorders. Additionally, the grant emphasizes research on sleep health disparities among disadvantaged populations in the U.S., including racial/ethnic minorities, socioeconomically disadvantaged populations, underserved rural populations, and sexual and gender minority populations. The research topics encouraged under this grant include screening, diagnosis, and treatment of sleep disorders, development and evaluation of interventions targeting sleep health disparities, and increasing access and effectiveness of sleep healthcare services for disadvantaged groups. The grant offers funding across three categories, with varying periods of performance and amounts, and covers research expenses while limiting indirect costs to 8%.