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The Sleep Medicine Fellowship Program at UAB is a one-year fellowship that offers well-balanced education for trainees. Clinical teaching and formal didactics is provided by faculty with diverse backgrounds and expertise, evenly spanning faculty with primary training in adult/pediatric pulmonary medicine, and adult/pediatric neurology. The sleep disorder centers of UAB, as part of the preeminent academic medical center in Alabama, attract patients with a broad spectrum of sleep disorders, from the state and beyond, offering trainees the opportunity of first-hand experience with common and rare disorders. 

Program Mission: 

The mission of the Sleep Medicine Fellowship Program is to train highly qualified sleep medicine physicians who become experts and leaders in this multi-disciplinary subspecialty. The fellows’ educational experience builds on their previous diverse residency or fellowship training (e.g. pediatrics, pulmonary medicine, neurology, internal medicine, psychiatry, family medicine, etc.) and our mission is to provide an inspiring, well-structured, comprehensive training in adult-and pediatric sleep medicine. Besides providing exceptional quality clinical care, our program’s goals also include focused attention on quality improvement and patient safety.

Program Information 

  • Dear Applicant:

    We appreciate your interest in our Sleep Medicine Fellowship Program at the University of Alabama at Birmingham! This website provides introductory information describing our Sleep Medicine Fellowship. Web links are provided here to acquaint you with the facilities we enjoy here at Children's of Alabama and University of Alabama Health System. Also included is web information for our city attractions and general accommodations. We hope that enough information has been provided so that you may get a flavor of what our fellowship, division and city are about. If you are interested in applying to our program, we will be accepting application materials beginning on July 2, 2025. The Sleep Medicine Fellowship Program participates in the Subspecialties Fall Match. Interested applicants should apply through the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS). In addition to the application through ERAS, we will need:

    • a personal statement
    • curriculum vitae
    • recent photograph
    • MSPE
    • Med School Transcript
    • USMLE/ COMPLEX Transcript
    • Three letters of recommendation – one of the letters must be from your Department of Pediatrics Chairman or from your Residency Director.

    All of the above information should be sent through ERAS.

    If you must mail any material, please send to:

    Hannah Smith, Program Coordinator
    UAB Pediatric Fellowship Office
    1600 7th Avenue South
    3rd Floor West McWane, Sergio Stagno Center
    Birmingham, AL 35233

    Once we have received the requested completed application along with three letters of recommendation, we will review your application and contact you regarding the possibility of interviewing at our program. We will begin interviewing in August and ending late September for 1 pediatric fellowship position and 1 adult fellowship position. This program participates in the Sleep Medicine Specialty fellowship match through the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) and will abide by the rules established by this group. Each applicant must sign the "Applicant Agreement" with the NRMP. (NRMP's telephone number is 202-828-0676; website: www.nrmp.org.) Rank order lists are due by November 19, 2025 with the official match results for the 2026 appointments announced on December 3, 2025

    We look forward to hearing from you. If you have any trouble accessing your electronic files or need further assistance, please feel free to call (205-638-6557).

  • Sleep Medicine Core Fellow Conference 

    Topics

    Behavioral Insomnia of Childhood

    CPAP & BiPAP in Adultsg

    CBQ-I

    Neurological Sleep Mechanisms I 

    Neurological Sleep Mechanisms II

    Effects of General Medications and Substances on Sleep

    Breathing During Sleep: Ventilation & Upper Airway

    Narcolepsy

    Hypersomnia

    Pediatric OSA and CPAP

    Sleep Deprivation

    ENT Surgical Options for Treatment of OSA

    Pharmacological Treatment of Insomnia in Childhood

    Sleep in Women

    Gastroenterology & Endocrinology Physiology During Sleep

    Jet Lag, Shiftwork

    Psychiatry Insomnia

    Sleep and Medical Disorders in Adults and in the Elderly

    Neuromuscular Disease and Sleep Medicine

    Practice Parameters for Sleep Related Breathing Disorders

    MSLT/MWT

    Research Methods Talk

    Sleep Essentials

    Skeletal Surgical Options for Treatment of OSA

    Sleep and Medical Disorders in Children

    Sleep and Seizures

    Inspire Lecture

    Sleep Related Movement Disorders

     REM Behavior Disorder  

    When

    1st, 2nd and 4th Friday of each month.


    ATS Sleep Medicine Case Conference

    Topics

    Topics Vary. https://www.thoracic.org/members/assemblies/assemblies/peds/ped-case-conference-series/

    When

    3rd Wednesday of each month.


    Sleep Medicine Journal Club

    Topics

    Articles are selected by faculty and fellow presenters. This educational activity has been approved for 1.00 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™

    When

    3rd Friday of each month.

  • Pediatric Rotation Month

    Monday

    A.M.

    PSG Reading


    A.M.

    Pediatric Sleep Clinic


    P.M.

    Adult Sleep Clinic

    Tuesday

    A.M.

    PSG Reading


    A.M.

    Pediatric Sleep Clinic


    P.M.

    Adult Sleep Clinic

    Wednesday

    A.M.

    PSG Reading


    A.M.

    Adult Sleep Clinic/BSM Clinic


    P.M.

    Adult Sleep Clinic

    Thursday

    A.M.

    PSG Reading


    A.M.

    Continuity Clinic/Adult Sleep Clinic


    P.M.

    Grand Rounds/
    EEG Review

    Friday

    A.M.

    PSG Reading


    A.M.

    Pediatric Sleep Clinic a


    P.M.

    Didactics, Lectures, Board Review, Journal Club

    Adult Rotation Month

    Monday

    A.M.

    PSG Reading


    A.M.

    Adult Sleep Clinic


    P.M.

    Adult Sleep Clinic

    Tuesday

    A.M.

    PSG Reading


    A.M.

    Pediatric Sleep Clinic 


    P.M.

    Adult Sleep Clinic

    Wednesday

    A.M.

    PSG Reading


    A.M.

    Adult Sleep Clinic/BSM Clinic


    P.M.

    Adult Sleep Clinic

    Thursday

    A.M.

    PSG Reading


    A.M.

    Continuity Clinic/Adult Sleep Clinic


    P.M.

    Grand Rounds/EEG Review

    Friday

    A.M.

    PSG Reading


    A.M.

    Pediatric Sleep Clinic


    P.M.

    Didactics, Lectures, Board Review, Journal Club

    EEG Review

    Fellows will be assigned 1 week rotation in the EEG monitoring one internal unit with a sleep neurologist during the second half of the academic year.

    BSM Clinic

    Fellow(s) will rotate in Behavioral Sleep Medicine Clinic for 6 weeks while on Adult rotation month

    Elective Month

    Fellow(s) will have an assigned elective rotation month during the second half of the academic year.

    • Translational approaches to disparities in sleep and circadian rhythms and their impact on a variety of health outcomes (UAB Highlands Sleep/Wake Disorders Center; Dr. Thomas; funding from AHA, NIH, and PCORI).

    • Sleep and circadian contributions to nocturnal hypertension (UAB Highlands; Drs. Thomas, Aulakh, and Patterson; NHLBI-funded 5-year, $2.8 million grant)Improving work flow efficiency in the Sleep Center; Improving follow-up of narcolepsy patients and OSA patients using CPAP (QI; Sleep Disorder Center at Children’s of Alabama).

    • Quality improvement initiatives to enhance workflow efficiency in the Sleep Center and improve follow-up of narcolepsy and OSA patients using CPAP (Children’s of Alabama Sleep Disorders Center)Slow wave sleep as a biomarker of rehabilitation-induced cognitive improvement in Parkinson's disease (Dr. Amara, funded by NIH, NICHD).

    • Improving follow-up education and EMR documentation for adult narcolepsy and idiopathic hypersomnia (IH) patients.

    • Developing improved medication literature/handouts for adult patients using sleep medications, including those for RLS and stimulant therapy (Dr. Patterson?).

    • MPI on the McNulty Award: Pilot trial of mindfulness-based therapy for insomnia in adolescents with Down syndrome and their caregivers (Dr. Thomas).

    • Grant submitted for SPARC: Studying sleep, circadian rhythms, and pain in adolescents with sickle cell disease (Dr. Thomas).

    • Quality improvement initiative to optimize start and total sleep time during polysomnograms (Dr. Nourani, Children's of Alabama Sleep Disorder Center).

Our Team 

Program Director
Anis Nourani, M.D.

Anis Nourani, M.D.

pnourani@uabmc.edu

 

Associate Program Director
Puneet Aulakh, M.D.

Puneet Aulakh, M.D.

paulakh@uabmc.edu

Program Coordinator
Hannah Smith

Hannah Smith

hmsmith@uabmc.edu