Who We Are
The Southern Sleep Society
Founding Members — Memphis, TN circa 1978
Attending a Southern Sleep Society meeting should be on your bucket list if you have never attended the conference. We are the oldest-surviving regional sleep organization and known for high-quality educational conferences, with well-known speakers, cutting-edge research topics, insightful clinical presentations, and cutting-edge exhibitors and supporters.
The Society was started in 1978 by a few clinical researchers who wanted to meet yearly to discuss their research projects, compare data, and debate findings in sleep medicine. The idea was to meet at a resort, bring along the family, and combine an educational weekend with a family vacation. The first meeting was held in Memphis, TN in 1978. The Society was eventually incorporated in the State of Alabama by Dr. Vernon Pegram. Since that time, conferences have been held four times in Memphis, but New Orleans seems to be the favorite spot for the Society to meet, with meetings held there on seven different occasions. The annual conference is held in the Southern States since the organization is the “Southern Sleep Society”. However, our history shows that conferences have been held outside the South when we met in Snowbird, UT and another time in Bethesda, MD.
Many of the earlier Founders and Past Presidents have passed on, but they have all left an indelible footprint in sleep medicine and mentored many young physicians, sleep technologists, Respiratory Therapists, Psychologists, and Nurses who have become sleep disorder pioneers themselves.
Officers
- Mary Rose, PsyD, President
- Ruckshanda Majid, MD, Immediate Past President
Board Members
- Alberto Santos, MD
- Paul Wylie, MD
Conference Coordinator
- Marietta B. Bibbs, BA, RPSGT, CCSH, FAAST, FAASM
By-Laws
The By-Laws of the Southern Sleep Society can be viewed in PDF format:
