SLEEP 2026 Preview
The Talks We Are Most Excited About in Baltimore
This June 14–17, the sleep world heads to Baltimore for the annual SLEEP 2026 meeting.
Robson and I will both be presenting several sessions (one together!) and are excited to meet various sleep medicine colleagues and professionals.
Every year, SLEEP serves as a snapshot of where the field is heading — what researchers are excited about, what industry is investing in, and what clinicians will likely be talking about over the next several years. The 2026 meeting reflects a field that is rapidly evolving toward consumer technology, personalized medicine, pharmacotherapy, and patient-centered outcomes.
After going through the program, here are several sessions we are especially looking forward to attending (or following closely).
Can Technology Replace the Sleep Lab?
Monday 6/15 1145-1245 - L-01 — Sabra Abbott MD, PhD (Moderator), Cathy Goldstein MD, and Lisa Wolfe MD
This may be one of the most important “future of sleep medicine” discussions at the entire meeting.
Consumer wearables have already changed patient expectations. Devices from Apple, Oura Health, and WHOOP are now routinely generating sleep data that patients bring directly into clinic visits. We just posted about Oura & Resmed partnering to drive more patients through the latter’s workflows. But the bigger question is whether emerging clinical-grade wearable technologies, AI algorithms, and remote monitoring tools can fundamentally change how obstructive sleep apnea is diagnosed and managed.
The traditional workflow — referral → sleep test/lab → interpretation → follow-up — is expensive, slow, and capacity-limited. If newer technologies can reliably diagnose OSA, monitor treatment response, and longitudinally track disease severity, the implications for the entire sleep ecosystem are enormous.
This session feels less like a theoretical discussion and more like a preview of where care delivery may actually be heading.
OSA Endotyping and Translation into Targeted Care
Monday 6/15 1-2p - I-O2 — Danny Eckert PhD
We’ve written extensively on the newsletter about endotyping and the movement toward personalized OSA treatment. Instead of treating all obstructive sleep apnea as one disease, researchers are increasingly trying to identify the specific physiologic drivers in individual patients.
Why does one patient respond beautifully to CPAP while another struggles? Which patients will best benefit from oral appliance therapy, surgery, weight loss, or hypoglossal nerve stimulation?
Researchers like Danny Eckert have helped push the field toward quantifying traits like loop gain, arousal threshold, upper airway collapsibility, and muscle responsiveness. The long-term vision is a future where treatment selection becomes far more precise and biologically informed.
Dr. Eckert is one of the most respected scientists in OSA physiology, and this topic is increasingly moving from research conversations into clinical relevance.
Interestingly, this session aligns closely with a talk that Robson and I are giving later that day 3:30-5:30: What Does It All Mean? Endophenotyping and Personalized Non-Surgical and Surgical OSA Treatment Review, alongside two leading researchers in this space, Drs. Ali Azarbarzin and Susan Redline.
Sleep and Non-Cardiovascular Comorbidities: Pain, Immune/Respiratory Links, and Real-World Outcomes
Monday 6/15 2:15-3:15p - O-06 — Heather Altier, PhD, DBSM; Nikolaos Athanasiou, MD, PhD; Randa Elzein, MBBS; Matthew Jennings, PhD
For years, sleep apnea conversations centered heavily on cardiovascular disease. That relationship remains critically important, but both clinicians and patients are increasingly interested in the broader systemic impacts of poor sleep and untreated OSA.
Pain disorders. Immune dysfunction. Daytime functioning. Quality of life.
Many patients don’t necessarily seek treatment because they are worried about a theoretical long-term cardiovascular risk. They seek treatment because they feel terrible now. They want more energy, less brain fog, fewer headaches, improved mood, and better functioning.
Sessions like this help broaden the understanding of sleep beyond AHI and blood pressure alone.
Characteristics of People with Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Pharmacotherapy Selection
Tuesday 6/16 11:45-12:45 - M-10 — Andrey Zinchuk, MD
One of the biggest emerging shifts in sleep medicine is the rise of pharmacotherapy for OSA.
The field is rapidly evolving beyond a “CPAP-or-surgery” framework. Between GLP-1 medications and newer pharmacologic approaches targeting upper airway physiology and ventilatory control, clinicians are increasingly being asked to think holistically about treatment selection.
As we’ve discussed on the newsletter, the future of OSA management likely involves multimodal and individualized treatment strategies rather than one-size-fits-all care.
I’m especially interested to hear how speakers frame pharmacotherapy within the broader treatment ecosystem rather than as a standalone solution.
Is Sleep the Key to Healthy Aging? An Update for 2026
Tuesday 6/16 1:00-2:00p - I-07 — Adam Spira PhD
Few topics are more culturally relevant right now than sleep, aging, and longevity.
Sleep has increasingly moved into the mainstream wellness conversation — driven by podcasts, social media, wearables, longevity culture.
Researchers like Adam Spira have helped shape the scientific discussion around sleep and neurodegenerative disease, cognitive decline, and healthy aging. This session feels particularly timely because it sits at the intersection of rigorous science and rapidly growing public interest.
This is also an area where the gap between evidence, hype, and consumer messaging can become blurry. Having experts contextualize what we actually know in 2026 should be valuable for both clinicians and the broader public conversation around sleep health.
Underdiagnosed OSA in Women: Phenotypes, Bias, and New Screening Models
Wednesday 6/17 1:00-2:00p - D-12 — Ruckshanda Majid MD (Chair), Nancy Collop MD, and Fidaa Shaib MD
Historically, much of the classic OSA literature and screening paradigms were built around stereotypical male presentations of sleep apnea.
But women with OSA often present differently — with insomnia, fatigue, mood symptoms, headaches, fragmented sleep, or less “classic” symptom profiles. As a result, many women remain undiagnosed or diagnosed later in the disease course.
There’s growing recognition that sex-specific phenotypes, hormonal influences, and diagnostic bias all matter in sleep medicine.
This feels like an especially important session as the field continues to refine screening models and move toward more inclusive diagnostic frameworks.
Bridging Evidence and Experience: Clinical Outcomes and Patient-Defined Value in OSA Therapy
Wednesday 6/17 2:15-3:15p - B-O4 — Dennis Hwang MD (Chair), Ali Azarbarzin PhD, and Emma Cooksey
One of the most interesting evolutions in sleep medicine is the growing emphasis on patient-defined outcomes.
Clinicians and researchers have traditionally focused heavily on metrics like AHI reduction. But patients often care about different questions:
Do I feel better?
Am I less tired?
Is this treatment tolerable?
Can I realistically use it long-term?
Does this improve my life?
Those questions matter.
This session appears poised to explore the tension — and hopefully alignment — between objective physiologic outcomes and real-world patient experience. As the number of OSA treatment options continues to expand, understanding what patients actually value becomes increasingly important. It features a great group of speakers expert in sleep medicine, novel metrics, and patient feedback on OSA management.
Final Thoughts
What stands out most from the 2026 program is how much the field is broadening.
Sleep medicine is no longer just about overnight sleep studies and CPAP adherence. The conversations now include AI, wearables, precision medicine, pharmacotherapy, women’s health, longevity, behavioral outcomes, and patient-centered care.
I look forward to reporting back on big takeaways from the meeting. I look forward to engaging with the sleep medicine community!