In Memoriam: Christian Guilleminault

This year, the Sleep Medicine and Research Community lost a brilliant mind and an esteemed friend - Christian Guilleminault (or CG, as friends used to call him). After completing his studies in France, he moved to the United States to start working at the University of Stanford with the renowned sleep researcher William Dement, who saw great potential in the young ambitious physician. Early on in his career, CG was responsible for the first cardiorespiratory recording during sleep and went on to make a remarkable contribution in the field of Sleep Medicine, especially in relation to sleep breathing disorders. CG was an incredible physician and researcher, who was known for his kindness, intelligence, energy and boldness. In the early 70’s, while working at Stanford Hospital, CG came across a young patient, a boy with untreatable hypertension, and quickly concluded that he needed a tracheostomy, which surprised the physicians in charge as the patient seemingly had no lung disease or respiratory insufficiency that would require a tracheostomy. The procedure was conducted, and the boy’s blood pressure immediately went down, much to the astonishment of the other physicians. In 1993, CG was the responsible for discovering and describing upper airway resistance syndrome (UARS), whose definition and clinical impact are still relevant today. We would like to highlight the contribution the support of CG made to the development of the field of Sleep Research in emerging countries, especially in Brazil; CG was present at the 1993 meeting at which the Brazilian Sleep Society was created. He always welcomed Brazilian physicians and researchers to his Stanford University laboratory - Sergio Tufik visited in the early 70’s, and later on Dalva Poyares and Luciana Palombini spent valuable time with him. CG was always supportive and actively mentored students and gave fascinating and engaging lectures in Brazil, most of them at the Department of Psychobiology at the Universidade Federal de São Paulo. He was a passionate professional, a distinguished mentor, and a lover of fine art and wines. CG was a dear friend who made a remarkable and valuable contribution to both our professional and personal lives as well as to the field of Sleep Medicine in the United States and beyond and will be truly missed by us all.

Prof. Dr. Sergio Tufik, Profa. Dra. Dalva Poyares, Dra. Luciana Palombini and Profa. Dra. Monica Levy Andersen

Publication History

Article published online:
31 October 2023