Beyond Boundaries visits Tbilisi!
23-24 June 2024 saw the second instalment of the Beyond Boundaries Project; an initiative of the Assembly of National Sleep Societies (ANSS) under auspices and with support from the ESRS, that aims to reach out across the internal borders of the National Sleep Societies and offer sleep education, skills training, and support for legal and communication issues pertaining to sleep.
The Georgian Sleep Research and Sleep Medicine Society (GSSS), having received membership in the ANSS in 2022, invited the Beyond Boundaries project to Tbilisi. The local host of the Beyond Boundaries project was the GSSS president Dr. Sofia Kasradze. Representing the ANSS were: Lyudmila Korostovtseva, Peter Young, Morten Engstrøm, Ysbrand van der Werf, Samson Khachatryan, Barbara Gnidovec-Stražišar and Oana Deleanu. Around 40 participants of the event represented Georgian clinicians (mostly neurologists and clinical neurophysiologists) and basic sleep researchers, and participants from Armenia increasing its impact regionally. The full agenda of this two-day seminar can be found here.
Sunday, 23 June saw a packed program from 9:00 am until 5:30 pm on sleep science and sleep medicine, with lectures from ANSS representatives and local sleep professionals. The emphasis was on interaction and meeting local sleep researchers and clinicians who shared interesting sleep research from Georgia. There were lively Q&As after the talks, and interactions continued during the coffee and lunch breaks, and the membership of the GSSS increased by 50% on the spot.
On Monday, 24 June, a half day of lectures was followed by an important meeting at the Georgian House of Parliament with the chairman Zaza Lominadze and two representatives of the Healthcare and Social Issues Committee. Prof. Sofia Kasradze supported by the GSSS leadership presented the situation with sleep research and sleep medicine in Georgia. The ANSS EC discussed with the parliament members the wish to establish sleep medicine as a sub-speciality in Georgia with a need to improve legislation accordingly; issues pertaining to availability of sleep medication and diagnostic facilities; and possibilities for research collaborations, exchange of students and residents and education in the field of sleep through updating the curricula.
For a detailed overview of the event, you can also watch the program prepared by the highly-rated medical TV channel Pulsi (in Georgian) here.
While the Beyond Boundaries project is preparing for the next site visit, requests for future visits are welcome. If you would like to contact the project to facilitate events in your country, fill out this form and email it to the ANSS Executive Committee (anss_ec@esrs.eu). You can also read more about the project announcement in this article.
Link to paper:
Khachatryan, S. et al. (2022). The Assembly of National Sleep Societies (ANSS‐ESRS) moves” Beyond Boundaries”: A project announcement. Journal of Sleep Research, 31(4).
Recent publications from ESRS members
- Boer J et al (2024), Effect of graduated drug therapy for moderate to severe chronic insomnia on the severity of disease: an observational study in Germany. J Clin Sleep Med.
- Liguori C. (2024) Don’t overlook insomnia in patients with cognitive impairment: it moderates the negative effects of Alzheimer’s disease on brain function. Sleep.
- Roth T et al (2024), Weight Loss With Once-nightly Sodium Oxybate for the Treatment of Narcolepsy: Analysis From the Phase III Randomized study Evaluating the efficacy and SafeTy of a ONce nightly formulation of sodium oxybate (REST-ON) Trial. Clin Ther.
- Baillieul et al (2024) Medication-induced central sleep apnea: beyond the unification of concepts, seizing the opportunity to precision medicine. Sleep.
- van der Heijden AC et al (2024), Targeted memory reactivation to augment treatment in post-traumatic stress disorder. Curr Biol.