About the Chair

Safwan Badr

M. Safwan Badr, M.D., M.B.A., is Chair of the Department of Internal Medicine at the Wayne State University School of Medicine and Chief Clinical Officer at Wayne Health.

Dr. Badr is a professor of Internal Medicine, Physiology and Biomedical Engineering, and a staff physician at the John D. Dingell VA Medical Center. He served as associate chair of the Department of Internal Medicine from 2004 to 2008, and as the chief medical officer for the Detroit Medical Center from 2008 to 2010.

Dr. Badr is an internationally known sleep disorders researcher and research mentor with current funding from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of Defense and National Institutes of Health. He has mentored numerous trainees and junior faculty members who have launched successful academic careers.

A graduate of Damascus University Medical School in Syria, he completed a residency in Internal Medicine at Cook County Hospital in Chicago, followed by clinical and research fellowships in Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He also completed a master's of Business Administration degree at the University of Tennessee.

Dr. Badr has served on multiple national and international medical societies, including the boards of directors of the American Thoracic Society and the American Academy of Sleep Medicine ( AASM); he served as the president of the AASM from 2013 to 2014. In addition, Dr. Badr is a member of the Board of Directors of the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM).