Global sleep symposium

Matthew Walker, Ph.D., is Professor of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering at The University of Texas at Dallas (UT Dallas), where he is founder and director the Sleep Innovation Laboratories at the Center for BrainHealth. He previously served as a Professor of Neuroscience the University of California, Berkeley, and prior to that, was Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.

He is the author of The New York Times and international bestseller Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams, which was listed by Bill Gates as one of his top five books of the year. Matt Walker’s TED Talk, “Sleep is Your Superpower,” has garnered more than 25 million views. He has received numerous funding awards from the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health and is a Kavli Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences. In 2020, Walker was awarded the Carl Sagan Prize for Science Achievements. Walker’s research examines the impact of sleep on human health and disease. He has been featured on numerous television and radio outlets, including CBS’ “60 Minutes,” National Geographic Channel, NOVA Science, NPR, and the BBC. He is also the host of the 5-star-rated podcast, The Matt Walker Podcast.

Dr. Eric Potterat, Ph.D. is a high-performance psychologist and retired U.S. Navy Commander, where he served as head psychologist for the Navy SEALs, developing mental toughness and elite performance programs. After retiring, he was Director of Specialized Performance Programs for the Los Angeles Dodgers, helping the team achieve record wins, three National League Championships, and the 2020 World Series. He has also coached Red Bull athletes and the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team during their 2019 World Cup victory.

With over 30 years of experience, Potterat has worked with more than 25,000 elite performers across military, athletics, first responders, medicine, law, and business. He is the co-author of the international bestseller Learned Excellence: Mental Disciplines for Leading and Winning from the World’s Top Performers and is recognized as a leading expert in mental resilience, performance optimization, and teachable strategies for high-pressure success.

Kirk Parsley served as an Undersea Medical Officer at Naval Special Warfare Group One from June 2009 to January 2013. While there, he led the development and supervised the group’s first Sports Medicine Rehabilitation center. He is a former SEAL, and received his Medical Degree from Bethesda, Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences (USUHS) in 2004. He interned in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Balboa Naval Hospital San Diego in 2005 and subsequently completed a Navy residency in Hyperbarics and Diving Medicine in 2006.

Dr. Parsley has been a member of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine since 2006 and served as Naval Special Warfare’s expert on Sleep Medicine. In addition he is certified in hormonal modulation (Age-Management Medicine). After leaving the Navy he went into concierge medicine and consulting. He continues to consult for multiple corporations, and professional athletes/teams and individual clients.

Doctor Parsley lectures worldwide on sleep, wellness, and hormonal optimization and is currently completing a book on sleep and health optimization. His philosophy for wellness is simple; in order to optimize our health and get the most out of our bodies and minds, we must live more closely to the way we evolved as a species. He believes that many diseases and disorders that we accept as “inevitable” in modern society are unnecessary complications of poor sleeping habits, living in a toxic environment, eating foods we were not designed to digest, and allowing stress to overwhelm us. His passion is to help his patients and clients achieve the highest quality of life possible, and realize their health, performance, and longevity goals.