This initiative was born from a collaboration between a research team and the patients it serves.
In the spring of 2026, Dr. During's lab and a small group of patients with RBD — united by a shared desire for faster, more impactful advances — came together to envision this program. Their collaboration, supported by Mount Sinai, reflects a conviction that the people most affected by a disease should have a central role in shaping the response to it.
Neuropsychiatrist & Sleep Medicine Specialist
Department of Neurology, Division of Movement Disorders Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York City
Principal Investigator
Dr. Emmanuel During is a Professor of Neurology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, with appointments in the Department of Neurology, Division of Movement Disorders, and the Department of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine. Over the past decade, he has dedicated his clinical and research work to neuro-sleep disorders — with a particular focus on RBD.
His research centers on developing scalable diagnostic tools and better therapeutics to identify high-risk individuals earlier, and to deliver timely symptomatic and neuroprotective care.
The Team & Lab
Antonia Schonwald, MD, PhD
Neurology Resident
Dr. Antonia Schonwald is a neurology resident with training spanning basic, translational, and clinical neuroscience. Her doctoral work examined neural mechanisms of learning and memory, including preclinical pharmacological studies in infantile epilepsy. In the During Lab, she applies this neuroscience foundation to clinical research at the intersection of sleep and movement disorders, leveraging wearable technology, AI, and sleep physiology to study neurological disease at scale. Her clinical interests also span sports neurology and post-stroke rehabilitation.
Giorgio Ricciardiello Mejia, Dual MS
Biomedical Engineer & Epidemiologist — Data Analyst II
Giorgio Ricciardiello Mejia holds dual master's degrees in biomedical engineering and epidemiology, bringing expertise in AI and machine learning methods applied to population-scale detection of sleep disturbances related to neurodegeneration. He is the lab's lead data scientist, developing and validating computational approaches to REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD) by integrating accelerometry, physiological, clinical, and behavioral data.
He leads the data analysis for a global collaboration with the International RBD Study Group, drawing on wearable sensor and clinical data from over 600 participants across more than 15 countries. He has also conducted validation studies testing the transferability of predictive models across devices, including consumer smartwatches.
Katelyn Ryu, BA
Clinical Research Coordinator
Katelyn Ryu is the clinical research coordinator responsible for the lab's day-to-day research operations. She oversees and conducts research visits involving wearable devices, clinical assessments, polysomnography, and other sleep-based measures, playing a central role in identifying and monitoring individuals at risk for neurodegeneration across the lab's ongoing studies.
Corporate Partners
