Yi Cai, MD is Director of Sleep Surgery at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center. She is driven by the desire to improve patients’ sleep through innovative clinical and research approaches. As one of <10 sleep surgeon-scientists in the nation with active research funding for sleep apnea, Dr. Cai is dedicated to advancing the field through research on the cardiometabolic outcomes of sleep apnea surgery. For this work, Dr. Cai has been awarded competitive grants from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine Foundation and Triological Society. She has published over 40 peer-reviewed research articles and textbook chapters, including first-author publications in JAMA Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery, SLEEP, and the leading otolaryngology textbooks. Dr. Cai received her undergraduate degree with honors from Harvard College and her medical degree from Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons, where she was awarded the Coakley Memorial Prize and Donald M. Palatucci Prize. She then completed her residency in Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery at the University of California San Francisco, where she received a Patient Care Fund Award and served as Co-Chair of the Resident and Fellow’s Council. Dr. Cai then completed fellowship training in both Sleep Medicine and Sleep Surgery at the University of Pennsylvania, where she was selected to attend the AASM Young Investigators Research Forum.