About Dr. Berkowski
Joseph Andrew “Andy” Berkowski, MD grew up in the Detroit area and attended the University of Detroit Jesuit High School, where he graduated as a co-valedictorian. There, the high school motto of “Men for Others” and the Catholic and Jesuit approach of cura personalis, or care for the whole individual, became engrained in him and is manifested now in his deep dedication to the physical, emotional, and spiritual well being of his patients. He volunteered extensively at the Children’s Hospital of Michigan during high school, laying the groundwork for his interest in a career in medicine. For three years, he also worked as a summer research assistant in the Evans Biochemistry Lab at Wayne State University.
When Dr. Berkowski was a freshman at Stanford University, the father of modern sleep medicine, Dr. William Dement, appeared at his Lagunita Court freshman dormitory to give an evening talk to the students to promote the importance of sleep, administer surveys, and show amazing videos of his dogs who had narcolepsy with cataplexy. The dedication and humility of the late Dr. Dement was not lost on Dr. Berkowski and planted a seed of interest in the field of sleep medicine. While at Stanford, he participated in lab research for Stanley Rockson, MD in cardiovascular medicine and was a teaching assistant for William Hurlbut, MD in bioethics. He also spent three weeks in Uttar Pradesh, India for a summer overseas seminar on “Religion and Healing Practices in Northern India” led by Professor Ronald Barrett, RN, PhD. The combination of experiences in both science and the humanities continues to influence Dr. Berkowski’s holistic approach to medicine.
Dr. Berkowski would go on to complete his premedical courses and a degree in religious studies, before returning to Detroit for medical school at Wayne State University. He completed an internship at Henry Ford Hospital and residency in adult neurology at the Detroit Medical Center/Wayne State University. There, he rotated in sleep medicine and spent time doing sleep physiology research at the Detroit VA on heart rate variability in central and obstructive sleep apnea in those with spinal cord injuries.
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His education came full circle when he returned to Stanford for a sleep medicine fellowship, receiving education from Dr. Dement himself. Dr. Berkowski learned the practice of sleep medicine from Dr. Dement’s career-long clinical and research partner, the late Christian Guilleminault, MD (“CG” to those who knew him) and his extensive tree of sleep medicine progeny at Stanford, one the world’s first sleep centers. There he also had the privilege to rotate in a restless legs syndrome (RLS) subspecialty clinic supervised by Mark Buchfuhrer, MD, one of the world’s leaders in RLS management, which piqued Dr. Berkowski’s interest in this underserved area of sleep medicine.
Andy Berkowski, MD with the late William Dement, “the father of sleep medicine” at the Stanford Sleep Medicine Center
After training, Dr. Berkowski spent his first few years developing an expertise in RLS and management of complex sleep disorders as an assistant professor of neurology at the University of Michigan. He then moved on to the Cleveland Clinic and expanded his virtual practice to treat patients regionally in the Midwest. He was able to build an iron infusion program at the Neurological Institute dedicated to RLS patients. Dr. Berkowski began ReLACS Health in 2022.
Dr. Berkowski is double-board certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology in Adult Neurology and Sleep Medicine. He specializes in the management of complex sleep disorders including a research interest in restless legs syndrome. Dr. Berkowski is a member of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM), the International Restless Legs Syndrome Study Group (IRLS SG), and serves as a volunteer on the Scientific and Medical Advisory Board of the Restless Legs Syndrome Foundation. His most prominent work is as vice chair of the AASM’s Clinical Practice Guidelines Task Force for the Treatment of RLS to be published in 2024. Throughout his career, Dr. Berkowski has taught medical residents and fellows in sleep medicine and has lectured extensively on the topic of sleep disorders and RLS.