Sleep Technology Startup Eight Announces New Members To World-Class Scientific Advisory Board

NEW YORK, Aug. 9, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Eight, (www.eightsleep.com) the technology company focused on improving the way we sleep — today announced the expansion of it's world-class Scientific Advisory Board (SAB), which includes the country's top minds at the forefront of sleep research from Harvard, Stanford, Mount Sinai, Yale and University of Pennsylvania. The new SAB members will serve as strategic partners in guiding the direction of Eight's growing research and scientific programs.

New Scientific Advisory Board Members:

• Robert Stickgold, PhD: Dr. Stickgold is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and Director at the Center for Sleep and Cognition. His research seeks to describe the nature of cognition during sleep.
• Craig Heller, PhD: Dr. Heller is a Professor of Biology at Stanford, where his research has focused on the neurobiology of sleep, circadian rhythms and human exercise physiology.
• Philip Gehrman, PhD: Dr. Gehrman is an assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine. He has used clinical research to study cognitive behavioral intervention for sleep disorders.
• Brian B. Koo, MD: Dr. Koo is the director of the Yale Center for Restless Legs Syndrome and is interested in the intersection between neurology and sleep medicine.

New members join Dr. David Rapoport, MD, who has advised Eight since 2014. Dr. Rapoport is a Professor of Medicine, Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine at Mount Sinai. He has a long-standing interest in the physiology of sleep disordered breathing and has accumulated a body of research on the topic.

Researchers and scientists have been a part of the company's DNA since inception, but this latest expansion brings on new faces in a more formal board setting. "Science and research are at the core of sleep improvement and health," said Matteo Franceschetti, CEO and Co-Founder of Eight. "With our Scientific Advisory Board, we look forward to deepening ties with the best clinicians, researchers and leading experts at every step of our technological progression."

Board members will serve as a resource to Eight in matters such as data analysis, research development and communication of findings. An example already underway is Dr. Koo's collaboration with the company's research team as they study how Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) affects sleep quality among users.

Research is possible thanks to the company's signature product, the Eight Smart Mattress. The product uses high-tech sensors that are embedded in the mattress to detect and track bio signals throughout the night. It then delivers users a comprehensive sleep report the following morning, including time slept, percentage of REM sleep and heart rate. The Smart Mattress allows for a seamless and non-invasive tracking mechanism that can give the average person and health professionals alike a picture of sleep health without the user having to wear or do anything.

To date, Eight has tracked over 2.5M nights of sleep, collected over 200B sleep data points and processed 500 terabytes of data from more than 20,000 users. According to Dr. Heller, the seamless tracking of such information through Eight's technology, "provides an unprecedented set of data for research on sleep across large cross sections of the population."

Outside the clinical setting, Eight is working to help its users understand and improve their sleep habits, from the ease of their mobile app. Eight users can access daily sleep reports and AI-powered sleep coaching, a feature the company built using several million nights of tracked sleep. Unlike other sleep trackers on the market, Eight's technology is able to measure presence in bed, position in bed, body temperature, respiration, heart rate variability and bedroom light. In addition to sleep tracking, the Eight Smart Mattress offers bed warming, smart alarm, and integration to smart home devices including Amazon Alexa and Nest.

For more information about Eight visit eightsleep.com

About Eight:
Founded in 2014 and based in New York City, Eight is bringing the biggest technological evolution that sleep has seen in the last 300 years. Named one of the Most Innovative Companies in Consumer Electronics by Fast Company, Eight is redesigning the traditional concept of a mattress, by developing cutting-edge AI and machine learning models to track bio signals during sleep with the goal of optimizing body recovery and rest. For more information about the company and its products visit eightsleep.com.

SOURCE Eight

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