Introducing Illinois' First Sleep Surgeon: Michael Awad, MD

July 28, 2020 | 2 min. to read

In an effort to provide patients with sleep disorders the most advanced treatments available, Northwestern Medicine recently welcomed Otolaryngologist and Head and Neck Surgeon Michael Awad, MD, Illinois’ first dedicated, fellowship-trained sleep surgeon.
 
Dr. Awad provides both complex medical and surgical management for the treatment of sleep disorders, and his clinical areas of interest include obstructive sleep apnea and snoring; sleep surgery and skeletal surgery; soft-tissue procedures like Inspire; neuromodulation; and trans-oral robotic surgery.

“Snoring is the No. 1 reason most people cite for not getting enough sleep,” says Dr. Awad. “It’s such a huge problem that most people believe there are no effective solutions. For those patients who have tried other measures that have failed, surgical sleep treatments may offer relief. I provide patient-focused, comprehensive sleep surgery care for patients suffering from obstructive sleep apnea and snoring.”

Northwestern Medicine has 20 sleep medicine specialists with offices in the Central, North and West regions, as well as five Sleep Health Centers, located at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Central DuPage Hospital, Lake Forest Hospital, Kishwaukee Hospital and Valley West Hospital. Northwestern Medicine Sleep Health Centers are staffed by neurology and pulmonary critical care physicians, sleep medicine specialists, registered technologists and respiratory therapists specially trained in adult and pediatric sleep disorders. Dr. Awad accepts patients at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in suite 15-200 of Galter Pavilion.
 
“It’s fantastic to join such a premiere institution,” Dr. Awad says. “I was exposed to sleep medicine early in my medical training, and I started to get the idea that many patients have not found effective solutions. I had the opportunity to visit Stanford University and was incredibly impressed by the advances they’ve made. The field of sleep medicine was established at Stanford in the 1980s, and many treatments in use today were pioneered there. I am excited to bring those treatments to Northwestern Medicine.”
 
Dr. Awad completed fellowship training in sleep medicine and sleep surgery at Stanford University School of Medicine, California. He received his medical degree from University of Nottingham, United Kingdom, and completed his residency at University of Toronto. He holds professional memberships in the American Academy of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery and the International Sleep Surgery Society.
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For more information, visit the Sleep Health Centers page on nm.org. To schedule an appointment, please call 312.695.8182, TTY for the hearing impaired 312.926.6363.

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