As part of an effort to bring together the Harvard Sleep Medicine community of faculty, fellows and graduate students, the Division of Sleep Medicine at BWH welcomed world-renowned scientist Michel Jouvet, MD as the keynote speaker at Sleep Grand Rounds on June 2. Jovet discussed his discovery of REM sleep as well as the significant importance of continued sleep research to the entire field of medicine. Jovet, who was originally trained as a neurosurgeon and is currently professor emeritus at Claude Bernard University in Lyon, France, has been one of the pioneers of Sleep Medicine. He was at BWH to accept the 2003 Peter C. Farrell Prize in Sleep Medicine. Peter C. Farrell, MD, who is the vice-chair on the executive council of the Division of Sleep Medicine at Harvard Medical School, bestows this annual award of one million dollars over five years to a scientist who has been instrumental in Sleep Medicine research.
Charles Czeisler, MD, director of the Division of Sleep Medicine at BWH, introduced Jovet as a “legendary researcher that we’re honored to have in our presence” and noted that this program is “a demonstration of our commitment to breakthrough research in Sleep Medicine, which we hope will inspire future scientists and promote continued research in this ever-evolving field.”