Community Health Leaders
In order to stay up to date on the latest treatments, drug discovery, clinical studies, and how to cope with insomnia every day, Insomnia.Sleep-Disorders.net brings you frequent articles, points of view, and advice from health leaders and experts.
Current health leaders
Clair Gardiner
Clair, has suffered with insomnia since she was a young adult. This proves a daily challenge when coping with the normal life ebb and flow. She is the single mom of a firecracker little girl. They live In Cape Town, South Africa they have 5 cats and love to craft and read books. Read more.
Bridget Gawinowicz
Bridget Gawinowicz is a young professional living in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She's a 200-hour certified yoga instructor who enjoys spending time camping, hiking, and aggressively showering her senior rescue cat with love. Read more.
Rachael Gehrke
Rachael was born in Michigan and moved to Tennessee as a child. Her issues with falling and staying asleep started at a young age. After a few years, Rachael was finally diagnosed with insomnia and has spent her adult life researching different ways to manage it. Read more.
Tracy Hannigan, MOstMed, ACE-HC
Tracy had a degree in psychology and worked in community mental health for over a decade, and was familiar with insomnia from the professional's point of view - However, her viewpoint was greatly rounded out by her own personal experience of insomnia in her early 30's. Read more.
Carin Lefkowitz, PsyD
Dr. Carin Lefkowitz is a clinical psychologist trained in cognitive-behavioral therapy. She is particularly interested in the areas of trauma and insomnia and is passionate about making evidence-based treatments accessible to all. Read more.
Amanda Osowski
Amanda Osowski is a wife and mother living and working in Chicago, IL. After earning a Masters Degree in Public Health, Amanda worked in clinical trial recruitment, specializing in breaking down barriers between patients and enrollment into clinical research. During her journey through infertility and after becoming a new mom, Amanda founded Heartfelt Beginnings, an infertility and postpartum doula agency. Read more.
Amy Pilkington
Amy Dodd Pilkington has battled insomnia for over three decades. Her struggles with sleeplessness began in her early teens and followed her into adulthood. Read more.
April Pulliam
April Pulliam has struggled with insomnia periodically for the past five years but hit a low point with sleep issues in October of 2019. Following an ear infection, she developed tinnitus in her left ear. Read more.
Anna Samson
Anna Samson (they/she) is a queer, desi person in their twenties from Canada, living just outside of Toronto. They have a Bachelor of Arts in English & Cultural Studies and write about their experiences with disabilities . Read more.
Marisa Lauren Troy
Marisa has struggled with medical issues since the age of 13 when she was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, a form of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Given her disease caused her to be in and out of the hospital, undergo numerous surgeries, tests and procedures, she developed Post Traumatic Stress Disorder by the time she was 17 years old. Read more.
Simone Yemm
When Simone was young, she thought she knew who she was. Now she has no idea. She spent more than three decades teaching and performing the flute before transitioning into writing and editing by completing a Masters in Journalism. She has since worked with a mentor to hone the craft of writing and has just completed her first book. Read more.
Previous health leaders
Amber Blackburn
Amber Blackburn is a Registered Nurse turned blogger and patient advocate for those with chronic illnesses. She was forced to leave the workforce after ten years as a nurse; this gave her the patient medical experience and perspective. That being said, being diagnosed and living with a chronic illness has given her the experience of everyday living so she understands both sides of the coin. Read more.
Jes Hojsan
Jes is a mother, advocate, writer, and intuitive. Residing in northern Ontario, Canada. She advocates for those grieving, facing chronic illness, and self-development. She is the creator of the #injectwithme campaign on Instagram, to help normalize injection medications. Read more.
Kelly J
I have 4 nieces and nephews. I love sharks, painting along with Bob Ross, gardening, and learning to cook. I enjoy kayaking, hiking, and I live among 4 rescue cats, my boyfriend and a service dog in training, Piper. Read more.
Paige Kelly
Paige Elijah Kelly is a woman, wife, and mother. She works full-time for an educational nonprofit in Austin Texas, where she and her husband are raising 2 boys. In 2013, she was diagnosed with Ehlers Danlos Syndrome after complications with her first pregnancy. Her symptoms were exacerbated further with the pregnancy of her second son. Read more.
Ali Long
Hi, my name is Ali! I am 24 years old and I’m from Ireland. I am a student. I’m in the final year of my degree in social care work. I never had a problem with sleep before. In fact, I was a great sleeper. I would sleep through the whole night. Now, this is something that I wish for. Read more.
Aaron Nuest
Hi my name is Aaron Nuest and I'm a Registered Polysomnographic Technologist (RPSGT). I’ve worked as a sleep technologist for over 10 years! I’ve heard several hundred stories of sleep issues. Read more.
TK Sellman
Tamara Sellman, RPSGT, CCSH is a career journalist (Columbia Chicago, ’90). She was diagnosed with idiopathic hypersomnia and upper airway resistance syndrome (UARS) in 2010. Her sleep problems inspired her to go back to school to become a sleep technologist in 2012 and a professional sleep educator in 2014. Read more.
Tom Sheppard
Tom Sheppard is looking for the answer to the enduring insomnia question, “how do I get more sleep?" In his late 70's he's had the solution more than once, but every time the answer was in the long term ineffective. Read more.
Beth Wyatt
Beth Wyatt is a sleep coach, specializing in insomnia and self-care. After finding relief from insomnia symptoms that haunted her sleep for most of her twenties and thirties, Beth became passionate about advocating for natural techniques and remedies that the wellness industry wasn’t yet talking about. Read more.
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