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University of Pennsylvania Medical Center
Pulmonary, Allergy, & Critical Care Division
Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center
3900 Woodland Avenues
Philadelphia, PA 19104
tel.: (215) 823-4400
fax: (215) 823-5876
email: skuna@mail.med.upenn.edu
Samuel.Kuna@va.gov
- MD: Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons
- Residency: Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
- Fellowship: Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
Dr. Kuna is Associate Professor of Medicine at the University
of Pennsylvania and Chief of the Pulmonary, Critical Care
and Sleep Section at the Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical
Center. Dr. Kuna joined the Division in September 1999 and
is a member of the Center for Sleep and Respiratory Neurobiology.
Dr. Kuna's primary academic goal is to develop an outstanding
research program based in his clinical research in the pathogenesis
and clinical management of obstructive sleep apnea.
Dr. Kuna graduated summa cum laude from Muhlenberg College
where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and obtained his
medical degree from Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons
were he was elected to Alpha Omega Alpha. Dr. Kuna completed
his Internal Medicine internship and residency, and pulmonary
fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania. Following
his fellowship, Dr. Kuna joined the faculty at the University
of Pennsylvania as Assistant Professor. During this period,
Dr. Kuna developed a strong interest in the control the
breathing. Dr. Kuna was a faculty member at the University
of Texas Medical Branch from 1982-1999. While at UTMB, his
primary clinical and research interest became focused on
the pathogenesis of obstructive sleep apnea and upper airway
muscle physiology. He served as medical director of the
UTMB Sleep Laboratory from 1984-1999.
Dr. Kuna’s current primary research concerns the
ambulatory management of patients with sleep apnea. He is
PI on a VA funded project VSATT (Veterans Sleep Apnea Treatment
Trial) comparing clinical outcomes and cost effectiveness
of unattended portable monitor testing versus standard in-laboratory
testing in patients with sleep apnea. He is the PI for the
Penn clinical site in the NIH funded Sleep AHEAD (Action
for Health in Diabetes) study, a randomized controlled trial
examining the effect of weight loss on sleep disordered
breathing in obese type 2 diabetics. Dr. Kuna also directs
the centralized scoring program at Penn for analysis of
sleep studies performed in VSATT, Sleep AHEAD and CATNAP
(CPAP Apnea Treatment North American Program), the latter
being an NIH funded randomized controlled trial to determine
the effects of CPAP treatment in patients with milder obstructive
sleep apnea. Dr. Kuna is collaborating with Dr. Allan Pack
on one of the projects in the Center for Sleep and Respiratory
Neurobiology’s SCOR grant research project to determine
the heritability of sleep homeostasis. This research is
comparing responses to sleep deprivation in monozygotic
and dizygotic twins. Dr. Kuna continues to pursue his interest
in upper airway mechanics through his collaboration with
Dr. Michael Brennick, whose NIH funded research is investigating
the effects of obesity on pharyngeal airway mechanics using
sophisticated MRI techniques in the obese Zucker rat model.
Since 1999, Dr. Kuna has published over 15 peer review papers
including 6 articles in the leading respiratory journal
and an article on obstructive sleep apnea in JAMA’s
Clinical Crossroads series. In addition, he co-authored
the chapter on the anatomy and physiology of upper airway
obstruction in the last two editions of Principles and Practice
of Sleep Medicine, the leading textbook of that medical
specialty.
Dr. Kuna is past president of the Texas Thoracic Society
and has served on the Research Committee, Board of Directors
and Executive Board of Directors of the American Lung Association
of Texas. He received the Chairman's Award from the American
Lung Association of Texas in 1993. Dr. Kuna has been active
in the American Thoracic Society and from 1997-1999 was
chair of that society's Respiratory Neurobiology and Sleep
Assembly as well as a member of the American Thoracic Society's
Board of Directors. He is currently a member of the Fellowship
Training Committee of the American Thoracic Society. He
is a past recipient of a Research Career Development Award
and is past chair of the NIH Respiratory Applied Physiology
Study Section. He was a member of the editorial board of
the Journal of Applied Physiology from 1994-1999 and is
currently an associate editor of the journal SLEEP. He has
lectured widely at symposia, post-graduate courses and seminars
on the topic of respiratory disorders during sleep and in
2002 organized the National VA Sleep Research Conference
held in Philadelphia.
Dr. Kuna's clinical activities are performed at the Philadelphia
Veterans Affairs Medical Center where he serves as medical
director of the VISN 4 Eastern Regional Sleep Center. He
attends on the Pulmonary Consult Service and Medical Intensive
Care Unit. In addition he staffs outpatient sleep clinics.
In these venues, Dr. Kuna supervises and teaches medical
students, house officers and fellows. Dr. Kuna received
the 2003 Mark Wolcott Award for Excellence in Clinical Care
Delivery, a national award given yearly by the Veterans
Health Administration to a physician who has made outstanding
contributions to clinical care. Dr. Kuna is listed in the
“Best Doctors in America: Eastern Region” database.
Foster GD, Sanders MH, Millman R. Zammit G, Borradaile KE, Newman AB, Wadden TA, Kelley D, Wing RR, Pi Sunyer FX, Darcey V, Kuna ST, and the Sleep AHEAD Research Group: Obstructive sleep apnea among obese patients with type 2 diabetes. Diabetes Care 32(6): 1017-1019, 2009.
Castriotta RJ, Atanasov S, Wilde MC, Masel BE, Lai JM, Kuna ST: Treatment of sleep disorders after traumatic brain injury. J Clin Sleep Med 5(2): 137-44, 2009.
Platt AB, Field SH, Asch DA, Chen Z, Patel NP, Gupta R, Roche DF, Gurubhagavatula I, Christie JD, Kuna ST: Neighborhood of residence is associated with daily adherence to CPAP therapy. Sleep 32(6): 799-806, 2009.
Foster GD, Borradaile KE, Sanders MH, Millman RP, Zammit G, Newman AB, Wadden TA, Kelley D, Wing RR, Pi-Sunyer FX, Reboussin D, Kuna ST, and The Sleep AHEAD Group of the Look AHEAD Research Group: A randomized study on the effect of weight loss on obstructive sleep apnea among patients with type 2 diabetes: The Sleep AHEAD study. Arch Int Med in press
revised 7/09 |
