August 15, 2025

RLS Foundation Certifies University of Southern California as a QCC

As an RLS Quality Care Center, the University of Southern California is certified to provide expert care to patients with restless legs syndrome, a chronic neurological sleep disorder.

AUSTIN, TEXAS, August 15, 2025 – The Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) Foundation announces it has certified the University of Southern California (USC) as an RLS Quality Care Center.

An estimated 2%-3% of adults need daily clinical treatment for RLS, a chronic neurological disease that disrupts sleep and can have a devastating impact on overall quality of life. As an RLS Quality Care Center, USC will serve as a destination for RLS patients who need expert medical care.

“We are honored to receive designation as a Quality Care Center,” says Tammy Wong, MD, interim medical director of the Quality Care Center at USC. “As an RLS Quality Care Center, we aim to enhance our patients' quality of life by controlling RLS symptoms, improving sleep quality and providing RLS education to patients, families and the community,” says Dr. Denise Sharon, clinical assistant professor at USC and RLS Foundation Scientific and Medical Advisory Board member who has been caring for RLS patients for over 25 years.

USC joins a network of 14 other institutions in the US and Europe that are certified by the RLS Foundation as Quality Care Centers. Through this program, the Foundation aims to improve the diagnosis and treatment of the disease worldwide.

RLS Quality Care Centers:

• Provide expert care to RLS patients
• Serve as information and referral resources for healthcare providers who treat patients with RLS and regional support groups
• Support patients and families through educational offerings and literature
• Share information with other centers to improve clinical best practices
• Partner with the RLS Foundation on quality improvement projects to raise the standard of care for RLS patients everywhere

“We are pleased to welcome USC to the RLS Foundation Quality Care Center network,” says RLS Foundation Executive Director Karla Dzienkowski. “People with moderate to severe RLS face significant challenges in symptom management. Access to highly skilled and experienced healthcare providers is essential to effective treatment and improvement in quality of life.”

Dzienkowski adds, “The goal of the Quality Care Center network is to provide RLS patients access to healthcare providers with expertise in RLS management. We look forward to partnership with USC to advance the quality of care for RLS patients.”

The contact information for USC is listed on the RLS Foundation website. Other certified RLS Quality Care Centers are:

• Johns Hopkins Center for Restless Legs Syndrome
• Mayo Clinic Center for Sleep Medicine
• Houston Methodist Neurological Institute
• Stanford Sleep Medicine Center
• Emory Sleep Center
• Yale Center for Restless Legs Syndrome
• Vanderbilt University Medical Center
• Scripps Clinic Viterbi Family Sleep Center
• Neurocenter of Southern Switzerland
• Innsbruck Medical University
• Massachusetts General
• University of Pittsburgh
• University of Virginia at Charlottesville
• Barrow Neurological Institute

To learn more about the RLS Quality Care Center Program, visit www.rls.org/quality-care-centers.

About the RLS Foundation

The Restless Legs Syndrome Foundation is dedicated to improving the lives of all who live with restless legs syndrome (RLS). Founded in 1992, the Foundation’s goals are to increase awareness, improve treatments and advance research to find a cure. The Foundation serves healthcare providers, researchers, over 6,000 members, and an estimated 12 million individuals in the United States who have the disease. The Foundation’s Research Grant Program has awarded over $2 million in funding for medical research on RLS causes and treatments. For more information, visit www.rls.org.

CONTACT
Adrianna Colucci
Communications and Marketing Coordinator
adrianna@rls.org
512-366-9109