UC San Diego Monday announced a $5 million gift from San Diego-based ResMed, which makes products for sleep apnea and other breathing disorders, to create a center for sleep medicine research and endow a chair in pulmonary medicine.
The funding will establish the Peter C. Farrell Sleep Center of Excellence and the Peter C. Farrell Presidential Chair in Pulmonary Medicine, honoring the company’s founder and board chairman.
The portion to establish the endowed chair was matched with an additional $500,000 from the University of California.
“We are truly grateful to ResMed for their generous gift to fuel research in sleep medicine at UC San Diego,” said Chancellor Pradeep Khosla. “Support from industry partners, such as ResMed, is a key driver that allows UC San Diego to remain at the forefront of health care.”
The sleep center will focus on research, clinical trials and patient care for sleep disorders — an area of treatment that UCSD said is expanding with technological advancements that allow for home sleep testing and monitoring.
Disorders like sleep apnea plague around 30 million people in the United States. While most cases go undiagnosed, the effects of sleep disorders are linked to serious conditions such as Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, depression, atrial fibrillation and COPD.
A growing body of evidence also shows an association between sleep disorders and cancer risk, according to UCSD.
“Sleep disorders make up a critical area of medicine that needs further investigation and increased awareness,” said Mick Farrell, CEO of ResMed. “Sleep apnea and COPD are two of the most expensive and under-treated diseases in the world.”
UCSD was ranked sixth in the nation by US News & World Report for pulmonology, a specialty area that includes care for patients with sleep- disordered breathing.
—City News Service
