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William C. Dement (1928–2020) That Role for 12 Years

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William C. Dement (1928–2020) That Role for 12 Years INSIGHTS | PERSPECTIVES RETROSPECTIVE founding president of the American Sleep Disorders Association (now the American Academy of Sleep Medicine), he served in William C. Dement (1928–2020) that role for 12 years. He created Stanford’s incredibly popular university course Sleep Father of sleep medicine and Dreams. Out of necessity, he wrote the first college textbook on the subject. Bill was such a pioneer that he had to sign his By Rafael Pelayo and Philippe Mourrain In 1963, Bill developed a sleep research own certificate when he became board cer- program at Stanford that drew interna- tified in sleep medicine. illiam C. Dement, one of the found- tional attention. He collaborated with many An intellectually curious and bold man ers of sleep science and medicine, of the scientists who would move the new who took advantage of every opportunity, died on 17 June. He was 91. Bill de- field forward, including neurophysiologists Bill anticipated the great potential for the voted his life to helping the public Michel Jouvet and Christian Guilleminault. sleep field to improve public health and appreciate the importance of sleep In 1970, he opened the Stanford Sleep worked tirelessly to promote it. He chaired health. His pioneering work, which Disorders Clinic. Bill invented the term the National Commission on Sleep Disorders Wincluded the discovery of rapid eye move- polysomnography to convince insurance Research, advocating awareness of sleep ment (REM) sleep, touched countless lives. companies to reimburse patients for the conditions, and spurred Congress to estab- Born in Wenatchee, Washington, in 1928, costs of clinical sleep studies. This coding lish the National Center on Sleep Disorders Bill earned a bachelor’s degree from the change, from experimental treatment to Research at the National Institutes of University of Washington in Seattle in ba- Health. His work raising awareness about Downloaded from sic medical science in 1951. He then started the dangers of drowsy driving and drowsi- medical school at the University of Chicago, ness in the workplace has undoubtedly where he conducted groundbreaking work saved innumerable lives. even before receiving his M.D. in 1955 and I (R.P.) met Bill in 1993 when I applied for his Ph.D. in neurophysiology in 1957. He a fellowship at Stanford. When the famous earned his medical license at Mount Sinai Dr. Dement burst into the room and extended http://science.sciencemag.org/ Hospital in New York City and then stayed his hand, he immediately put me at ease. on to continue his sleep research. In 1963, From that day on, Bill always made me smile. Bill joined the psychiatry department at Later, we co-taught his Sleep and Dreams Stanford University in Stanford, California, course, traveling together to class in his golf where he remained for the rest of his career. cart. Bill was just as welcoming to me (P.M.). Bill first encountered sleep research at When I met him in 2005, I was shocked the University of Chicago, where he joined that he asked me, a junior faculty member, the lab of physiologist and sleep researcher to share my opinions about how to improve Nathaniel Kleitman. A fellow graduate stu- the definition of sleep. Kind and generous to dent, Eugene Aserinsky, had begun to study colleagues and students alike, Bill had a posi- on July 31, 2020 eye movements in sleep in 1953. Bill helped tive energy and good humor that motivated discover and describe REM sleep, a term he everyone who worked with him. later coined. From 1954 through 1957, he de- While stationed in Japan as a journalist scribed the relationship between REM sleep sanctioned medical procedure, marked the for the army after World War II, Bill per- and dreaming, established the all-night sleep beginning of the modern field of clinical formed professionally as a jazz musician. patterns in human beings, discovered REM sleep medicine. Surrounded by talented young musicians sleep in animals and newborn babies, and Bill helped create the multiple sleep la- such as Ray Charles and Quincy Jones, demonstrated that the patterns of specific tency test, now the international standard Bill later would say that he realized he rapid eye movements are related to the vi- for evaluating all forms of hypersomnia, could “make a better living as a mediocre sual dream experience. and he established the use of clinical sleep physician than as a mediocre musician.” Upon completion of his internship at studies in pharmacology trials. Sleep-onset However, he never lost his love of perform- Mount Sinai Hospital, Bill obtained a re- REM periods, another of Bill’s discoveries, ing. When asked, he would sing a cappella search grant to establish a sleep laboratory, became a pathophysiological marker of to the students in class. His musical per- which he housed in his apartment. His in- narcolepsy. His narcoleptic dog colony at formances were often the highlight of our genuity and persuasive powers were evident Stanford eventually helped establish the professional conferences. in the grant stipulations: Because the sleep cause of narcolepsy in humans. REM sleep Bill served as a role model by always research took place at night and he needed phenomena have now been uncovered in keeping an open mind and embracing sci- to be near his young family, the funding dragon lizards, fishes, and even cephalo- entific inquiry with the goal of helping oth- covered half of his apartment rent. Among pods, broadening the influence of Bill’s ers. A living legend, beloved by his friends the research subjects coming to his sleep re- work to more than half a billion years of and family, he enjoyed his celebrity status. search lab were members of the Radio City animal evolution. He died secure in the knowledge that his Rockettes. In 1960, he published a paper in As the field’s founder, Bill worked to colleagues and students would honor and Science based on that work, in which he de- provide sleep research with the neces- carry on his work. Sleep researchers have scribed the effect of dream deprivation. sary resources. He helped found the Sleep lost a giant, but Bill’s legacy will guide the Research Society in 1961 and the Society for field as it continues to grow. j Sleep Medicine Division, Stanford University School of Neuroscience in 1969. He published Sleep, Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA. Email: [email protected] the first journal devoted to the field. The 10.1126/science.abd6855 SERVICE NEWS PAINTER/STANFORD CHUCK PHOTO: 512 31 JULY 2020 • VOL 369 ISSUE 6503 sciencemag.org SCIENCE Published by AAAS William C. Dement (1928−2020) Rafael Pelayo and Philippe Mourrain Science 369 (6503), 512. DOI: 10.1126/science.abd6855 Downloaded from ARTICLE TOOLS http://science.sciencemag.org/content/369/6503/512 PERMISSIONS http://www.sciencemag.org/help/reprints-and-permissions http://science.sciencemag.org/ on July 31, 2020 Use of this article is subject to the Terms of Service Science (print ISSN 0036-8075; online ISSN 1095-9203) is published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1200 New York Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20005. The title Science is a registered trademark of AAAS. Copyright © 2020 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
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