ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 9, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA)—the voice of the global business travel industry—today announced that W. Christopher Winter, MD, will be a featured speaker at the GBTA Sports Conference 2011 being held July 21-22, at the Indianapolis Marriott Downtown, Indianapolis, Ind.  This intriguing session, "Time Zones and the Sleepy Athletes—Travel Considerations with Professional Sports Organizations," will explore the emerging role of sleep science within the world of professional athletics, as it pertains both to teams as a whole and to individual athletes.

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"We are thrilled to have Dr. Winter speaking at the first ever GBTA Sports Conference.  His work has been instrumental in helping athletes and teams manage their practice, sleep and travel schedules, keeping them at the top of their game.  Travel and team performance, based on game times and locations, is a vital component for the sports industry," said Scott Solombrino, GBTA Board of Directors member and president and CEO of Dav El Chauffeured Transportation Network.

Dr. W. Christopher Winter has practiced sleep medicine and neurology in Charlottesville, VA since 2004 and has been involved with sleep medicine and sleep research since 1993.  He is the Medical Director of the Martha Jefferson Hospital Sleep Medicine Center.  Currently, his research deals with sleep and its effect on athletic performance.  

In 2006, Major League Baseball (MLB) awarded him a grant to study the effect of scheduling and time zone travel on team performance.  Dr. Winter also led a study evaluating the sleeping characteristics of 560 Division 1-A college football players.  He has served as a consultant for MLB teams, National Basketball Association (NBA) teams, professional football teams and USA Hockey.  His expertise in sleep as it relates to health and fitness led to Dr. Winter being named to the Men's Health Magazine Health Advisory Board.  He regularly answers readers' questions about sleep and contributes to its articles.  He also contributes to various magazines including Triathlete.

Dr. Winter is the recipient of research awards from both the Sleep Medicine Society and the Associated Professional Sleep Societies.  He is the author of numerous scientific papers and abstracts dealing with sleep and has presented his findings all over the world.

The GBTA Sports Conference will focus on the unique needs of the sports business travel sector. Sports business travel is a distinctive segment of travel management that represents a significant impact on the business travel industry. Because of this special industry segment, GBTA created the GBTA Sports Conference, a day-and-a-half conference designed to provide attendees, representing both professional and collegiate markets, with the tools and resources needed for success. The conference attendees will be able to network, discuss best practices and assess the current state of their travel programs. The educational sessions will bring new light to the unique challenges of the sports business travel industry, such as ancillary fees and managing risks faced by team travel managers in both transient and group travel.

With registration for the GBTA Sports Conference 2011, attendees will receive a complimentary six-month GBTA membership and complimentary registration for GBTA's Fundamentals of Sports Business Travel Management online course.

Online registration and a full agenda for the GBTA Sports Conference 2011 can be found on the GBTA Website. Click here to register.

About the Global Business Travel Association

The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) is the world's premier business travel and meetings organization.  Collectively, GBTA's 5,000-plus members manage over $340 billion of global business travel and meetings expenditures annually.  GBTA provides its network of 17,000 business and government travel and meetings managers, as well as travel service providers, with networking events, news, education & professional development, research, and advocacy. For more information, visit gbta.org.

SOURCE Global Business Travel Association