Board Members
LEWIS KASS MD – Board Member
After having spent 9 years in the large medical center settings of Yale and Montefiore, Dr. Kass realized that what he loved most about the practice of medicine was having close relationships with the families that he treats. It seemed impossible to attain this in a setting where patients rarely saw the same doctor from visit to visit and couldn’t get appointments sooner than 3 months in advance. For this reason, Dr. Kass opened his own private practice.
While setting up his practice in the winter of 2005, Dr. Kass was simultaneously recruited by the Medical Director of the Sleep Disorders Center at Norwalk Hospital in Norwalk, Connecticut to be their pediatric sleep medicine director and consultant. Dr. Kass’ expertise was required for the evaluation and management of pediatric sleep disorders at Norwalk Hospital as well has for the pediatric education of fellows and residents in their Sleep Medicine fellowship. Under Dr. Kass’ direction this service has grown exponentially as well.
With its inception in March 2005, Westchester Pediatric Pulmonology and Sleep Medicine has allowed Dr. Kass to continue practicing cutting edge medicine using state-of-the-art equipment while occurring in an intimate setting with a small town feel. Dr. Kass is a solo practitioner and does not share on-call services with other practices. So, families can be assured of continuity of care since they will always see only Dr. Kass in the office and speak to him directly after-hours. Despite the practice’s rapid growth, patients always feel that they’ve received warm, unhurried and expert care. He is currently the only pediatric pulmonologist in private practice in Westchester County and the surrounding region.
In addition to seeing patients in his Mount Kisco, NY office and at Norwalk Hospital, Dr. Kass is also available for in-patient hospital consultations at Northern Westchester Hospital in Mount Kisco, NY, White Plains Hospital in White Plains, NY and at Lawrence Hospital in Bronxville, NY.
Dr. Kass is a sought-after expert for the media, with patients traveling from all across North America and Europe, and has been quoted in several major newspaper and magazine publications including Time Magazine, USA Today, The New York Times, The Daily News, Woman’s World, American Baby, E-Pregnancy Magazine, Parents and Parenting Magazines and has also been featured in Keeping Kids Healthy, a PBS TV documentary. Dr. Kass has also discussed pediatric pulmonary issues on Channel 12, ABC and NBC local news.
LORI STORCH-SMITH MD – Board Member
“Dr.Lori”, is a private board certified pediatrician who has been practicing in Connecticut for 12 years. She graduated from George Washington University Medical School and then completed her residency at Yale Children’s Hospital.
After having a set of twins, Dr. Storch Smith joined her local chapter of the Mother’s of Multiples club and subsequently was its President for 4 years. While President , Dr Storch Smith began a lecture series at Norwalk Hospital which included sleep expert Dr. Marc Weissbluth. It was there that her interest in helping families sleep better began. Along with Deborah Pedrick, Dr. Lori organized a successful sleep consultative service in her pediatric office. She also happily reports that all 4 of her children are good sleepers!
Along with her successful pediatric practice, Dr. Lori is a contributor to the Mother’s of Multiples monthly newsletter, a pediatric expert in the book, Twin Set: Moms of Multiples Share Survive and Thrive Secrets and has appeared on several medical segments of News Channel 12. She also proudly organizes The Great Wilton Scavenger Hunt which raises money to support pediatric spinal cord tumors.
NICOLE JOHNSON – Board Member
Nicole is Founder, President, and Lead Sleep Consultant of The Baby Sleep Site®, an online company devoted to helping parents of sleepless babies and toddlers solve their children’s sleep issues. The company was borne out of Johnson’s own experiences as a sleep-deprived mother of two. After spending countless hours researching baby sleep, Johnson was able to solve her sons’ sleep issues, and in 2008, she created a website on which she shares her wisdom and experience with other exhausted parents. What began as a small side-business has blossomed over the past 10 years into a full-fledged telecommute company. Today, The Baby Sleep Site® employs a team of sleep consultants, customer service reps, and several administrators. The website itself has become the internet’s leading authority on baby and toddler sleep, and currently enjoys nearly 1 ½ million visitors worldwide each month. What’s more, The Baby Sleep Site®’s team of expert consultants has personally helped over 40,000 families solve their sleep problems in a holistic way that matches each family’s unique challenges and personal goals.
Johnson, her husband, and their two boys currently reside in Columbus, OH. In her spare time, Nicole enjoys health and fitness, reading, board games, and watching her children compete in various sporting events.
Administrators
ROZANNE HAY – Director of Continuing Education
With having a background counseling and nursing and in addition to being a sleep expert for over 30+years; Rozanne has been supporting families to achieve the healthiest possible outcomes in terms of both physical and mental wellbeing. The value of sleep in achieving these outcomes has been a lifelong interest for her. She draws on a wealth of experience, having trained in Mental Health, then working with families and on a number of empowerment programmes, including a youth rehabilitation programme and a Children’s Centre.
These experiences have taught her the value of understanding, compassion, and holistic solutions that address the needs of family members in all aspects. Rozanne grew up in a rural African mission community where she learned to serve others from early on. These early experiences developed her valuable skills of intuition and instinctive parenting which she draws from daily. Rozanne enables and encourages colleagues who work in this industry to deepen their understanding of sleep, which ultimately brings the greatest impact. As a mother of four, she knows first hand what it feels like to be a parent facing sleep difficulties, and is committed to helping families become rested.
EMILY DIXON – Co-Director of Membership and Administration
As a Co-Director of Membership, Emily Dixon supports the enrollment and administrative efforts of the Association, along with member communication and support. Emily is currently a student, majoring in business management and marketing at Western Governors University. She is excited to learn more about the child sleep consultant industry, and looks forward to interacting with the community.
SOREN RODRIGUEZ – Co-Director of Membership and Administration
As a Co-Director of Membership, Soren Rodriguez supports the enrollment and administrative efforts of the Association.
A recent graduate of Boston University with a degree in advertising, Soren currently lives in Chicago and has held various roles in the healthcare and marketing industries. Soren is looking forward to helping the Association grow and ensure member satisfaction!
SUSAN WALLACE – IACSC Community Coordinator
Susan Wallace is based in Belfast and is the founder of Settled Petals. Susan was a Social Worker for ten years before settling up Settled Petals in 2018. She also has an Education degree from Cambridge University. She has previous experience working as a nanny, in daycare and with disadvantaged children in Mexico and the Philippines. Susan is an Infant Sleep Consultant, Potty Training Consultant and Baby Massage Educator. She runs a Diploma in Baby Massage training others to become Baby Massage Instructors. Susan has a particular interest in the role of touch therapies and how they may promote infant sleep.
MYLEE ZSCHECH – IACSC Community Coordinator
Mylee Zschech is Family Sleep Institute certified Child Sleep Consultant with Little Big Dreamers (www.littlebigdreamers.net) and a a certified Behavior Coach through The Early Years CBCP program.
Being an Australian mom living in NYC, she knows the struggle of raising kids in isolation from extended family whilst struggling with multiple sleep challenges.
After seeing the transformative effect of hiring a sleep consultant on both her child’s sleep and her own Mylee knew she wanted to do the same for other parents.
As soon as her boys were in school she joined the FSI certification program and never looked back. She enjoys working with parents to help their children thrive through healthy sleep – from newborns, toddlers and beyond. Mylee also has a BA in social work, a certificate in grief and palliative care counseling from back home in Australia.
KATHERINE CURRIE – IACSC Community Coordinator
Katherine Currie draws on her extensive background in early years to focus on children’s sleep and behaviour.
Katherine has recently published and launched ‘the pretty lace star’ which is an innovative story based around a CBT concept, supporting children to maximize their sleep potential. Katherine endeavors to stay abreast of current research and values supporting families to achieve their best sleep outcomes. In doing so, Katherine works within a whole family context implementing a holistic approach when addressing sleep concerns.
MACALL GORDON – IACSC Sleep Researcher
Macall Gordon has a B.S. from Stanford in Human Biology and an M.A. from Antioch University, Seattle in Applied Psychology, where she is currently a Sr. Lecturer in the mental health counseling and art therapy departments.
She researches and writes about the relationship between temperament and sleep, and the gap between research and parenting advice. She is a certified pediatric sleep consultant working with parents of alert, non-sleeping children in private practice, as well as on the women’s telehealth platform, Maven Clinic.
She comes to this work because she had two sensitive, intense children and she didn’t sleep for 18 years.
Past Board Members
LORNA C. ALIPERTI APRN, IBCLC
Lorna is a nurse practitioner and lactation consultant who provides home visits to new mothers and babies with breastfeeding problems. In addition to being a board certified lactation consultant, she has a bachelors degree from the University of Texas, a masters degree in nursing from Pace University and a masters from the Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner Program at Columbia University. She taught obstetrics in the Nurse Practitioner Program at Columbia and in the Entry to Practice nursing program at Fairfield University. She is currently a Women’s Health clinical instructor at Columbia. Prior to establishing her private practice, she worked as a perinatal nurse and as a nurse practitioner in the office of Dr. Christina Smillie, a pediatrician who specializes in breastfeeding medicine.She authored an Arco test preparation book for practical nurses taking their NCLEX certification exam which has been in press since 2001, and published research on hospital breastfeeding management in the Journal of Perinatal Education. She has also written articles for several parenting publications.Lorna has four children and two grandchildren.