Board of advisors
Meet our trusted
board of advisors
Sleep medicine, lifestyle medicine, neurodevelopment research, MedTech, intellectual property, and population health. Six advisors keep our work evidence-based and grounded in real clinical practice.
Founder
The Sleep Health Organization was built to close the sleep gap: the distance between a parent noticing a problem and a child getting the right care.

Dr. Anya McLaren-Barnett
Dr. Anya McLaren-Barnett is a pediatric respirologist, sleep medicine physician, and creator of the Sleep Health Intelligence Program (SHIP™).
Dr. Anya completed her medical training at the University of Toronto, where she also earned an Honours Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science in Physiology. Alongside her clinical work, her interests include global health, youth mentorship, patient advocacy, and patient education.
Advisors
Each advisor brings a discipline the pediatric sleep gap touches, from the clinic room to the regulatory file.

Dr. Richa Agnihotri
Dr. Richa Agnihotri is a consultant community pediatrician, board certified in Lifestyle Medicine, and founder of CORE: Child and Youth Wellbeing Inc. She advocates for health literacy and for giving children, youth, and families the skills they need to thrive. Sleep is central to the care she provides, and she brings clinical experience and knowledge translation skills to The Sleep Health Organization.

Dr. Arash Samimi
Dr. Arash Samimi is founder and managing partner at Eliomedica, a medical device strategy firm focused on market entry, investor relationships, and regulatory affairs. He has led design, development, and FDA clearance for electromechanical systems, imaging technologies, remote patient monitoring devices, and in vitro diagnostics. He works with startups and physician entrepreneurs to build clinically backed, investment-ready products. He holds a PhD in Physics from Queen's University.

Dr. Sarah MacEachern
Dr. Sarah MacEachern is an Assistant Professor in Pediatrics and a developmental pediatrician in Calgary. In 2022 she founded the Precision Neurodevelopment Lab. Her research and clinical practice focus on children with neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism and intellectual disability, with a special interest in children who show severe behaviours of concern including aggression or self-injury. Her clinical work directs her research so that it addresses the real challenges these young people and their families face.

Jasminder Brar
Jasminder Brar is a highly ranked intellectual property strategist advising healthtech companies. He specializes in IP value creation, market entry planning, and corporate transactions, with a track record serving both private and public healthtech companies. His experience spans complex commercial transactions, litigation resolution, compliance, and corporate governance. He holds Computer Engineering and Law degrees from the University of Manitoba.

Dr. Alicia Chung
Alicia Chung, EdD, is an Assistant Professor of Population Health at NYU Grossman School of Medicine and a faculty member in the Center for Early Childhood Health and Development. Her research covers health promotion of sleep, diet, and play behaviors that reduce obesity risk in families of color, and the use of digital tools such as social media, mobile apps, and wearables to reach populations that are hard to engage. She applies implementation science to the digital adaptation of evidence-based sleep solutions, and human-centered design so that those solutions reflect what users actually need.
Meet our trusted board of advisors
Our team of experts in sleep medicine, lifestyle health, intellectual property strategy, and MedTech innovation delivers a well-rounded, evidence-based approach to advancing pediatric care and innovative solutions.
Dr. Anya McLaren-Barnett
FOUNDER
Dr. McLaren-Barnett is a pediatric respirologist, sleep medicine physician and creator of The Sleep Health Intelligence Program (SHIP™). Dr. McLaren Barnett completed her medical training at the University of Toronto where she also earned an Honours Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science in Physiology. In addition to her areas of expertise, Dr. McLaren Barnett’s interests include global health, youth mentorship, patient advocacy and patient education.
Dr. Richa Agnihotri
MEDICAL ADVISOR
Dr. Richa Agnihotri is a Consultant Community Pediatrician who is Board Certified in Lifestyle Medicine and Founder of CORE: Child and Youth Wellbeing Inc. She is a strong advocate for enhancing health literacy and empowering children, youth and their families with the skills needed to flourish. Sleep is a critical aspect of the care she provides, and she understands the importance of restful sleep in building healthy generations. She brings clinical experience, and skills in knowledge translation to the Sleep Health Organization.
Dr. Arash Samimi
MEDTECH ADVISOR
Dr. Arash Samimi is the founder and managing partner at Eliomedica, a medical device strategy firm with a focus on market entry, investor relationships and regulatory affairs. He has led the design, development, and FDA clearance for innovative devices, including electromechanical systems, imaging technologies, remote patient monitoring devices, and in vitro diagnostics. Dr Samimi collaborates with startups and physician entrepreneurs to build clinically backed, investment-ready products with compelling value propositions. He holds a PhD in Physics from Queen's University in Canada.
Dr. Sarah MacEachern
RESEARCH ADVISOR
Dr. Sarah MacEachern is an Assistant Professor in Pediatrics and a Developmental Pediatrician in Calgary. In 2022 she founded the Precision Neurodevelopment Lab. She has established a complementary research and clinical practice focused on children with neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism and intellectual disability. She has a special interest in children with severe behaviours of concern such as aggression or self-injury. Her clinical work informs and directs her research program to ensure that her and her team are addressing common, real-world challenges that these young people and their families face.
Jasminder Brar
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ADVISOR
Jasminder is a highly ranked IP strategist providing counsel to innovative healthtech companies. He specializes in IP value creation, market entry planning, and corporate transactions, with a proven track record serving both private and public healthtech companies. His experience spans complex commercial transactions, litigation resolution, compliance, and corporate governance, enabling him to deliver comprehensive fractional legal and advisory services tailored to scaling healthtech ventures. He holds Computer Engineering and Law degrees from the University of Manitoba.
Dr. Alicia Chung
PUBLIC HEALTH ADVISOR
Alicia Chung, Ed.D. is an Assistant Professor of Population Health at NYU Grossman School of Medicine. She is a faculty member in the Center for Early Childhood Health and Development (CEHD). Her research interests include health promotion of sleep, diet and play behaviors that reduce obesity risk in families of color to narrow the health disparities gap. Dr. Chung’s research interests also include the utility of digital technology tools, such as social media, mobile apps and wearables, to engage hard to reach populations in health behavior change. She uses implementation science for digital adaptation of evidence-based sleep solutions, as well as human-centered design to develop solutions that reflect the preferences of the user and are relevant to their needeering and Law degrees from the University of Manitoba.
Are you interested in getting involved with The Sleep Health Organization?
We would love to hear from you! Whether you are a parent navigating your child's sleep or a clinician looking to grow your practice, reach out and let's start the conversation
Get involved
Whether you are a parent working through your child's sleep or a clinician looking to grow your practice, we would like to hear from you. Tell us who you are and we will point you to the right person.
- Parents and caregivers looking for evidence-based guidance
- Clinicians interested in the SHIP™ Certificate of Training or CME
- Researchers and advisors who want to collaborate
- Media, event, and speaking enquiries
Everything we publish is education, not medical advice. For concerns about your own child, speak with your clinician.