The content created by the Sleep and Health Education Program is based on our belief that, as sleep experts and publishers, we have an unwavering obligation to build and maintain the public's trust in the validity of the information we present. This obligation extends to our choice of funders, partners, and the individuals who write, edit, design, program, and review the program's content, or whose involvement with the program creates an opportunity, however indirect, to influence the information we publish.
A conflict of interest is a situation in which someone in a position of trust has competing professional or personal interests. Such competing interests can make it difficult to fulfill his or her duties impartially. A conflict of interest may exist even if no unethical or improper act results from it. Conflicts of interest can create an appearance of impropriety that can undermine confidence in an institution, product, or public or personal interaction. On this page, the Division of Sleep Medicine at Harvard Medical School is disclosing relationships between contributors and reviewers of editorial content to this website and relevant outside entities1. We believe that this disclosure fosters an environment of openness and transparency related to the content of this website, in which relevant commercial or noncommercial interests are disclosed. It is our intention that site visitors will be able to form their own judgments about potential conflicts based on disclosure information2 and determine whether any of the listed relationships have unduly influenced the content presented.
Funding for this site is provided by the Harvard Medical School Division of Sleep Medicine through the use of unrestricted educational grants from the following corporations and not-for-profit organizations:
- Cephalon, Inc.
- Sanofi-aventis, Inc.
- Sepracor, Inc.
- Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America, Inc.
- Jazz Pharmaceuticals
- TEVA
- Wake Up Narcolepsy
The following is the disclosure information for the website editors:
Narcolepsy Module Author and Editor:
Thomas E. Scammell, MD, Professor of Neurology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Division of Sleep Medicine, is a consultant for Merck, Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Ferrer Pharmaceuticals, Guidepoint Global, Gerson Lehrman, Purdue Pharma, Cereve, Ryan and Ryan deLuca. He has also received a research grant from Wake Up Narcolepsy.
Sleep and Health Education Program Editor-in-Chief:
Stuart F. Quan, MD, Gerald E. McGuiness Professor of Sleep Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Harvard Division of Sleep Medicine, also is employed by the Brigham and Women's Hospital and the University of Arizona; receives research support from the National Institutes of Health; and currently is the editor in chief of the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, the official journal of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. He also has served as a consultant for Saatchi and Saatchi.
The following is the disclosure information for all website contributors and participants:
Nicole Jeray received a professional golf sponsorship in 2013 from Jazz Pharmaceuticals.
Doug Kirsch, MD, Instructor in Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Division of Sleep Medicine, no conflicts to disclose.
Kiran Maski, MD, Instructor in Neurology, Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard Division of Sleep Medicine, no conflicts to disclose.
Lisa Rezza, Patient and Family Educator, Children's Hospital, Boston, no conflicts to disclose.
Thomas E. Scammell, MD, Harvard Division of Sleep Medicine, see above disclosure.
The following is the disclosure information for the Sleep and Health Education Program's Editorial Board:
Janis L. Anderson, PhD, Harvard Division of Sleep Medicine, receives research support from Apollo Health, Inc., and serves as a consultant for VPG Integrated Media.
Ronald E. Becker, MD, Harvard Division of Sleep Medicine, no conflicts to disclose.
Christopher Paul Landrigan, MD, MPH
William Berenberg Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine, Harvard Medical School
Associate Physician, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's
Hospital, no conflicts to disclose.
Steven W. Lockley, PhD, Harvard Division of Sleep Medicine, has received research support and material goods from ResMed Corporation and Foundation.
Stuart F. Quan, MD, Harvard Division of Sleep Medicine, see above disclosure.
Thomas E. Scammell, Harvard Division of Sleep Medicine, see above disclosure.
Arthur R. Smith, Executive Producer, VOX Television, Watertown, MA, no conflicts to disclose.
Robert Stickgold, PhD, Harvard Division of Sleep Medicine, no conflicts to disclose.
The following is the disclosure information for the External Review Board:
Clete Kushida, MD, PhD, Stanford University, no conflicts to disclose.
Michael H. Silber, MBChB, Mayo Clinic, no conflicts to disclose.
1 Any for-profit business, nonprofit organization, or government agency whose products or services could benefit from sleep program content, with the exception of WGBH, Harvard University and its schools, and Harvard-affiliated hospitals and research institutes.
2 Conflict-of-interest information for the 12 months immediately preceding December 1, 2013, is provided.
(Elements of the definition of "conflict of interest" are adapted from Wikipedia.)