Alon Y. Avidan, MD, MPH

Alon Y. Avidan, MD, MPH, FAAN, FAASM, is a professor and director of the Sleep Medicine Program in the Department of Neurology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. Avidan also serves as vice chair of the UCLA Department of Neurology. He completed his neurology residency at Georgetown University Medical Center and his fellowship in sleep medicine at the Cleveland Clinic.

Avidan’s clinical expertise covers a broad range of sleep medicine topics, including the management of insomnia, sleep deprivation, sleep-disordered breathing, restless legs syndrome, circadian rhythm disorders, and geriatric sleep medicine. His research focuses on the relationship between sleep disorders such as REM sleep behavior disorder and the development of neurodegenerative conditions, as well as the impact of sleep on neurological diseases. He has served as principal investigator for a National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, NIH, Sleep Academic Award.

Avidan has contributed extensively to sleep medicine literature and education. He has published more than 100 chapters, letters to the editor, and peer-reviewed articles, curated an issue on sleep disorders for the AAN publication Neurology: Clinical Practice, guest edited three issues of "Seminars in Neurology" on sleep, contributed to an AAN Continuum issue on sleep, and co-authored four books: "Handbook of Sleep Medicine," "Geriatric Sleep Medicine," "Review of Sleep Medicine," and "Atlas of Clinical Sleep Medicine." He has developed educational modules for teaching sleep topics that have been adopted by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.

Avidan has received several honors for his work in sleep medicine and neurology education, including serving as visiting professor of neurology education at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and receiving the American Academy of Sleep Medicine Excellence in Education Award for career contributions to sleep medicine education. He has been recognized by Super Doctors Southern California and Los Angeles Magazine’s Top Doctors. Avidan holds diplomate status from the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, the American Board of Sleep Medicine, and the specialty of sleep medicine, and is a fellow of both the American Academy of Neurology and the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.

Avidan is frequently featured as a public voice on sleep health, appearing on television programs such as Dateline NBC, National Public Radio, Washington Post, USA Today, and CNN.com, as well as local radio programs focused on sleep disorders. He is a regular speaker at universities and national and international meetings, providing expertise on sleep disorders, neuroscience, and public health.