Our Expert Contributors

When we research a new topic one of the first things we do is talk to our team of experts on sleep. Through our work, we've built some great relationships with Doctors, Nurses, Chiropractors, and Dentists all lending their expertise, opinions, and often writing and reviewing our content first hand. We also rely on this team of experts to make sure what we write about it tied to the latest medical research, studies, and resources in the area of sleep health.

Mary Sweeney, RN, BSN, CEN, ONN-CG, is an oncology nurse navigator and medical writer. Before working in nurse navigation and patient education, Mary was an emergency nurse at a level 1 trauma center, followed by active duty time as an officer in the Navy Nurse Corps. In the military, she worked in several areas including emergency/trauma, post-anesthesia, and deployment medicine. In her career, she has picked up on the important value sleep plays to health both in and outside of the military.

Dr. Russell attended the prestigious New York Chiropractic College where he completed his Doctorate degree. He quickly grew his family practice into one of the larger wellness clinics in the region and began serving his community in various ways – with an overwhelming emphasis on postural correction. After treating thousands of patients, it became clear that sleep deprivation and the associated relationship with chronic pain was one of the root causes of these concerns. Dr. Russell began designing therapeutic pillows that were based entirely on the science of anatomy, biomechanics, and ergonomics. While completing his Masters of Business Administration degree (MBA), Dr. Russell founded Slumbar Pillows.

Founder of REACH Rehab + Chiropractic Performance Center. He works and lives according to the belief that to have a healthy, pain-free lifestyle, you must be responsible for your health by eating well and moving well. He believes that what you do when you're awake has a major impact on how you sleep.

Ryan became obsessed with sleep after suffering from insomnia for several years. As a life-long martial artist, martial arts school owner, and owner of several businesses, he saw how the lack of restful sleep was affecting his performance on the mat and in the rest of his life. He read extensively and began experimenting with how to get to sleep faster, and stay asleep, and tracked the results. After fixing the root causes of his insomnia, he became a Certified Sleep Coach and started sharing his passion for good sleep on Start Sleeping.

Dr. Ryan P. Colosi is a Diplomate of the American Board of Pediatric Dentistry. He is a member of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, ABPD College of Diplomates, Southeast Society of Pediatric Dentistry and the American Dental Association. He has followed in the footsteps of his father, Dr. Russell Colosi, who has owned a general dentistry practice outside of Buffalo, NY for over 35 years. Dr. Colosi has served in the US Navy Dental Corps and worked in private practices in Buffalo, NY, Lexington, SC & Charlotte, NC. He is passionate about the importance of sleep and works with people experiencing many types of sleep disturbances.

Author of "The Secret Life of Sleep," Kat and maintains a blog at SecretLifeOfSleep.com. She has an MA in Counseling and Education from Southwestern College in New Mexico, works as a mental health counselor and child forensic interviewer in Taos, New Mexico, and is the author of several books.

Below you'll find some of our most trusted sources we use when researching sleep topics and creating educational resources, tools and product guides. For any topic we cover we look for scholarly sources, medical experts and peer reviewed studies with conclusive results to support our work.