The 2025 World Medical Innovation Forum (WMIF) earlier this month brought together leaders from across medicine, biotech, government, research, investors and other industries, to discuss to discuss a wide range of topics at the cutting-edge of healthcare.
If you missed it, not to worry – there's plenty of event news and highlights to catch up on.
One particular panel that drew a large crowd was on a topic front and center in most of our lives: sleep.
The panel, called “Sleep: Why We Can’t Get Enough | Understanding the Future of a Busy Market” was moderated by Aleksandar Videnovic, MD, chief of the Division of Sleep Neurology at Mass General Brigham and featured the following experts:
- Charles Czeisler, MD, PhD, chief, Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders, Brigham and Women’s Hospital;
- Kiran Maski, MD, associate professor neurology, Boston Children’s Hospital
- Lawrence Miller, MD, CEO, Apnimed
- Andrew Wellman, MD, PhD director, Sleep Disordered Breathing Lab, Brigham and Women’s Hospital
You can watch the full panel here.
Afterwards, Videnovic and Czeisler were kind enough to sit down and record a discussion that touched on their key takeaways from the panel.
For example, did you know that sleep apnea is far more common than initially thought, affecting one out of three men and one out of six women—and how a whopping 80% of those individuals don’t receive any treatment?
That’s where innovation can fill a giant gap in care. Czeisler recounted the story of how Wellman's research at BWH led to the identification of a new therapeutic target for sleep apnea.
A drug based on those insights being developed by Apnimed has shown promising results in phase 3 clinical trials, Miller said during the panel discussion.
Issues with poor sleep go beyond sleep apnea, however. Videnovic also weighed in on the link between poor sleep and neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, and what innovators are doing to better understand and reduce the risk.
He added that a lesser-known sleep disorder, REM sleep behavior disorder, is highly predictive of a future diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease or Lewy Body dementia. Interventions that target this sleep disorder may pay future dividends down the line.
The discussion also touched on an "epidemic" of sleep deprivation that is affecting up to half of all children, which can lead to impairments in the still-developing frontal lobe that can increase risky behaviors.
Czeisler, a renowned leader in circadian rhythm research, shared many interesting insights on a frequently neglected topic in sleep medicine: how daytime light exposure may be one of the most important factors in regulating our internal clocks—and actually have an impact on every organ in the body.
Czeisler, a renowned leader in circadian rhythm research, shared many interesting insights on a frequently neglected topic in sleep medicine: how daytime light exposure may be one of the most important factors in regulating our internal clocks – and actually have an impact on every organ in the body.
With a long-distinguished career in teaching, he’s heard it all from his students when it comes to hyped sleep hacks and recounted some of the more creative ones to Videnovic.
“They come in with the craziest things that they've gotten off of the internet,” he said, like fractionating sleep – setting alarms to wake themselves hourly during the night, which they heard might be the best way to get them ready for the rigors of college.
Learn more by listening to the podcast below:
Listen to our podcast to hear more from Videnovic and Czeisler to catch up on what you missed at WMIF, and what these two leaders think are some of the most important issues and areas for innovation in sleep. You may even come away inspired to do something about your own sleep habits.
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