Ghanaian American psychiatrist and sleep specialist
This article is about Ghanaian American academic, psychiatrist and sleep medicine specialist, Alexander A. Clerk. For his great-grandfather, the Jamaican Moravian missionary and teacher, see Alexander Worthy Clerk.
Alexander Adu Clerk was born in Cape Coast in the Central Region, Gold Coast in 1947 to Charles Andrew Clerk (c. 1891 – 1977), a civil servant who had done administrative stints in the northern Nigerian cities of Kano and Zaria.[1] C. A. Clerk was also a colporteur of the Hansen Road Seventh-Day Adventist Church in Accra.[8][9] His mother was Dorothy Esi Mensima Clerk, née Holdbrook, of Cape Coast and Ga Mashie. His paternal grandfather, Charles Emmanuel Clerk (died 14 November 1938) worked in the Gold Coast Civil Service as an interpreter and Secretary to the Governor, and earlier, he was a newspaper publisher in Nigeria. Alexander A. Clerk is a fourth generation descendant of the historically important Clerk family.[10][11] He is a great-grandson of Alexander Worthy Clerk, a Jamaican Moravian missionary who arrived in the Danish Protectorate of Christiansborg (now the suburb of Osu) in 1843, as part of the original group of 24 West Indian missionaries who worked under the auspices of the Basel Evangelical Missionary Society of Basel, Switzerland.[12][13][14][11] A.W. Clerk was a pioneer of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana and a leader in education in colonial Ghana, co-founding a boarding middle school in Osu, the Salem School in 1843. His paternal great-grandmother, Pauline Hesse (1831–1909) was from the Gold Coast, and of Danish, German and Ga-Dangme heritage.[15] His great-grandaunt was Regina Hesse (1832 –1898), a pioneer educator and school principal who worked with the Basel Mission on the Gold Coast.[15] His granduncle, Nicholas Timothy Clerk (1862 – 1961), a Basel-trained theologian was elected the first Synod Clerk of the Presbyterian Church of the Gold Coast from 1918 to 1932[16][12] and a founding father of the all boys’ boarding high school, the Presbyterian Boys’ Secondary School established in 1938.[17][10]
His uncle, Carl Henry Clerk (1895 – 1982), an educator and Presbyterian minister was elected the fourth Synod Clerk of the Presbyterian Church of the Gold Coast from 1950 to 1954 and served as the Editor of the Christian Messenger newspaper from 1960 to 1963.[18][19] Another uncle, Theodore S. Clerk (1909 – 1965) was the first Ghanaian architect who planned and developed the harbour metropolis, Tema.[20][21][22] A. A. Clerk's aunts were Jane E. Clerk (1904 – 1999), a woman pioneer in education administration and Matilda J. Clerk (1916 – 1984), the second Ghanaian woman to become a physician.[23]
Between 1975 and 1978, Clerk was a medical officer at the Effia-Nkwantah Hospital, Sekondi in Ghana's Western Region.[1] Later, he became an assistant professor of psychiatry at the Loma Linda University School of Medicine.[1] He was also an attending physician and was appointed the Chief Director of the Outpatient Psychiatric Clinic and the Mental Hygiene Clinic at the Loma Linda Veteran Administration Hospital from 1984 to 1989.[1] A. A. Clerk was also a consulting psychiatrist with the Riverside County Mental Health Department.[7] Clerk was a clinical assistant professor and later, a clinical associate professor of psychiatry at the Stanford University School of Medicine.[1] He was an attending physician and associate director of the Stanford Sleep Disorders Clinic at Stanford University Medical Center, part of the Stanford Health Care system, rising to become the Director of the world's first sleep medical clinic,[31] the Stanford Center for Sleep Sciences and Medicine from 1990 to 1998 where he was responsible for clinical operations, sleep research and supervised training of other medical specialists.[1][2][4][5][6] Over the course of his career, he has published numerous scientific articles, book chapters and abstracts pertaining to the science of sleep.[1]
Alexander Clerk is the President of the Valley View University Foundation, established to promote academic excellence and scholarship at the Valley View University located in Oyibi, on the Dodowa-Nsawam Road In Ghana.[36] A residential hall at the Valley View University is named Clerk Hall in honour of his family.[37] Clerk also served as the President of the Pacific Ghanaian Adventist Fellowship (PaGAF).[38]
Valencia-Flores M.; Bliwise, D.; Guilleminault, C.; Rhodes, N.; Clerk A. (1992) “Gender differences in sleep architecture in apnea syndrome.” Sleep Research: 21: 271
Dantz, B.; Edgar, E.M.; Clerk, A.; Keenan, S.; Seidel W.F.; Dement, W.C. (1992) “Narcoleptics on a 90 minute day: Circadian variations in sleep latencies and tympanic temperature.”Sleep Research: 21: 369
Clerk, A; Duncan, S.; Guilleminault, C. (1992), “Resistance perception during wakefulness in subjects with partial or complete upper airway obstruction during sleep.” Sleep Research: 21: 186
Christian Guilleminault, Riccardo Stoohs, Alex Clerk, Mindy Cetel, Paul Maistros (1993). “The Upper Airway Resistance Syndrome, Sleep Apnea and Rhonchopathy.” Togawa K, Katayama S, Hisihikawa Y, Ohta Y, Horie T (eds.): Basel: Karger, pp. 62–65
Alex Clerk, Vincent Zarcone. (1996) “Impotence: Sleep Clinic Assessment. Treating Sexual Disorders.” Randolph S. Charltoon (ed): Publisher Jossey Bass, San Francisco, CA, Chapter 4, pp. 123–125
Valencia-Flores, M.; Bliwise, D; Guilleminault, C.; Rhodes, N.; Clerk A. (1992): “Gender differences in sleep architecture in sleep apnea syndrome.” Journal of Sleep Research1, 51-53
Guilleminault, C.; Stoohs, R.; Clerk, A.; Simmons, J.; Labanowski, M. (1992): “From obstructive sleep apnea syndrome to upper airway resistance syndrome: Consistency of daytime sleepiness.”Sleep15:S13-S16
Guilleminault, C.; Clerk, A.; Labanowski, M.; Simmon, J.; Stoohs, R. (1993): “Cardiac Failure and Benzodiazepines.” Sleep16 (6):524-528
Guilleminault, C.; Stoohs, R.; Labanowski, M.; Simmons, J.; Clerk, A. (1993): “Cardiac Failure, snoring, ventricular arrhythmias and nasal bilevel positive pressure ventilation.”Sleep16: S139- S140
Guilleminault, C.; Stoohs R.; Clerk, A., Simmons J., Labanowski M. (1993): “Excessive daytime somnolence in women with abnormal respiratory efforts during sleep.”Sleep16:S137-S138
Guilleminault, C.; Stoohs, R.; Clerk, A.; Cetel M., Maistros P. (1993): “A cause of excessive daytime sleepiness: The upper airway resistance syndrome.”Chest104 (3): 781-787
Clerk, A.; Duncan, S.; Guilleminault, C. (1994): “Load detection in subjects with sleep-induced upper airway obstruction.”Am J. Respir. Crit. Care Med149:727-730
Riley, R.W.; Powell, N.B., Guilleminault, C.; Clerk, A.: “Obstructive sleep apnea and the hyoid bone – a revised surgical procedure.” Otolaryngol. Head Neck Surgery
Riley, R.W.; Powell N.B.; Guilleminault, C.; Clerk A.; Troell, R. (1995): “Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome: Trends in Therapy of a Major Public Health Problem.”West I Med: 143-8
Kushida, C.; Clerk, A.; Kirsch, C.; Hotson, J.; Guilleminault, C. (1995): “Prolonged Confusion With Nocturnal Wandering Arising From NREM and REM Sleep: A Case Report.”Sleep: 757-64
Guilleminault, C.; Pelayo, R.; Clerk, A.; Leger, D.; Bocian, R. (1995): “Home Nasal Continuous Positive Airway Pressure in Infants with Sleep-Disordered Breathing.”Journal of Pediatrics: 905-12.
Guilleminault, C.; Clerk, A.; Black, J. et al. (1995) "Nondrug Treatment Trials in Psychophysiologic Insomnia". Archives of Internal Medicine. 155 (8) 838-844[39]
Newman, J. P.; Clerk, A.; Moore, M.; Utley, D. S.; Terris, D. J. (1996). "Recognition and Surgical Management of the Upper Airway Resistance Syndrome". The Laryngoscope. 106 (9): 1089–1093[40][41]
Guilleminault, C; Stoohs, R; Kim, Y; Chervin, R; Black, J; Clerk, A. (1995) “Upper Airway sleep-disordered breathing in women.”Ann Int Med: 122 (7):493-501
Guilleminault, C.; Pelayo, R.; Leger, D.; Clerk, A. (1996), Bocian, R. C. “Recognition of sleep-disordered breathing in children.”Pediatrics: 871-82
Valencia-Flores, M.; Bliwise, D. L.; Guilleminault, C.; Cilveti, R.; Clerk, A. (1996) “Congnitive function in patients with sleep apnea after acute nocturnal nasal continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) treatment: sleepiness and hypoxemia effects.”J Clin. Exp. Neuropsychology: 197-210
Terris, D. J.; Clerk, A.; Norbash, A. M.; Troell, R. J. (1996). "Characterization of postoperative edema following laser-assisted uvulopalatoplasty using MRI and polysomnography: implications for the outpatient treatment of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome." The Laryngoscope. 106 (2 Pt 1): 124–128[42][43]
Utley, D. S.; Shin, E. J.; Clerk, A.; Terris, D. J. (1997). "A Cost-Effective and Rational Surgical Approach to Patients With Snoring, Upper Airway Resistance Syndrome, or Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome". The Laryngoscope. 107 (6): 726–734[44]
^ ab"PRESEC | ALUMINI PORTAL". 11 November 2016. Archived from the original on 11 November 2016. Retrieved 11 June 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
^Jet. Johnson Publishing Company. 26 August 1954. Archived from the original on 29 March 2017.
^Clerk, Nicholas, T. (5 June 1982). Obituary: The Reverend Carl Henry Clerk. Accra: Presbyterian Church of Ghana, Funeral Bulletin.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^Patton, Adell Jr. (13 April 1996). Physicians, Colonial Racism, and Diaspora in West Africa (1st ed.). Gainesville: University Press of Florida. p. 29. ISBN9780813014326.
^Newman, James P.; Clerk, Alex A.; Moore, Michelle; Utley, David S.; Terris, David J. (1 September 1996). "Recognition and Surgical Management of the Upper Airway Resistance Syndrome". The Laryngoscope. 106 (9): 1089–1093. doi:10.1097/00005537-199609000-00009. ISSN1531-4995. PMID8822711. S2CID35954843.
^Terris, D. J.; Clerk, A. A.; Norbash, A. M.; Troell, R. J. (February 1996). "Characterization of postoperative edema following laser-assisted uvulopalatoplasty using MRI and polysomnography: implications for the outpatient treatment of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome". The Laryngoscope. 106 (2 Pt 1): 124–128. doi:10.1097/00005537-199602000-00002. ISSN0023-852X. PMID8583838. S2CID36631218.
^Utley, David S.; Shin, Edward J.; Clerk, Alex A.; Terris, David J. (1 June 1997). "A Cost-Effective and Rational Surgical Approach to Patients With Snoring, Upper Airway Resistance Syndrome, or Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome". The Laryngoscope. 107 (6): 726–734. doi:10.1097/00005537-199706000-00005. ISSN1531-4995. PMID9185727. S2CID11898538.