Alumni spotlight: Logan Schneider, MD ’10
Alumnus applies neurology training to sleep health at Google
Logan Schneider, MD '10
If you’re craving a burger, you might pull up Google Maps on your phone and search for the closest and highest-rated options near you. The app will let you know if certain restaurants will be closing soon, if any road closures will affect your route and what the best path is to your chosen joint.
What if the devices you use every day could help you optimize your sleep in a similar fashion?
This is the question Logan Schneider, MD ’10, explores through his work as the clinical lead for sleep health at Google, where he applies his expertise in neurology, sleep medicine, big data and genetics to bridge technology and medicine.
Since joining Google in 2021, he has consulted with engineers to help develop sleep technology platforms for devices like the Nest Hub, a tablet-sized device with a Sunrise Alarm option that can gradually increase screen brightness and alarm volume to wake users in the morning. His health expertise has also been integral to the development of the biometric-sensing technology and sleep coaching paradigm used by Fitbit trackers and Pixel Watch.
Google devices like the Fitbit can track activity like sleep and provide personalized reports and recommendations on how to improve your snooze.
“A lot of people in the tech environment are highly intelligent and skilled but may lack domain knowledge in areas like health, so they might reach out to people like me,” said Schneider, who completed a neurology residency and sleep medicine fellowship and is also an adjunct clinical associate professor at Stanford University in California. “One of my mentors had said, ‘The things you enjoy or find fun are often things that you’re good at,’ and so I just seemed to have a knack for thinking like a neurologist, thinking about why we do what we do. So my interest in the philosophical domains and practical aspects of the brain are now something I can apply to these new technologies.”
Clinical studies helped Google engineers define the standards and algorithms for their sleep tech, which uses safety-rated radar detection to track movement, heartbeat intervals and breathing to estimate sleep stages and duration.
Schneider said the devices aim to help users make manageable lifestyle decisions that can have a positive impact.
“It’s meant to help people optimize their sleep, to find their best self,” he said. “Eventually, we want these tools to help them figure out what their sleep goals are and how the tech can help them get there, just like Google Maps did for driving.”
