Russell Rozenky, MS, RT, RRT-SDS, CPFT, RPSGT, CCSH
Russell received his Associate’s degree in Biology from Suffolk County Community College in in 1993, and went on to receive his Bachelor of Science degree in Respiratory Care from the State University of New York at Stony Brook in 1997. He continued to earn a certificate in Healthcare Policy in 2011 and then finally his Master’s Degree from the State University of New York at Stony Brook in 2013.
Russ has over 25 years’ experience in the fields of both respiratory care and sleep diagnostics and therapeutics. Russ began his career at Southside Community Hospital and John T Mather memorial Hospital as a respiratory therapist. While at Mather, there was an opening for Russ to change directions and was offered the opportunity to open a sleep center. Russ began the process to develop and open a sleep center at Mather Hospital. Over the next 8 years at Mather, the facility went from one bed, to 4 beds, with an exam room, doctors’ office, reception area, and conducting over 1,000 studies per year. During this timeframe, Russ also was recruited to provide guest lectures in Polysomnography to students in Stony Brook Universities Respiratory Care Program. Russ also was instrumental in having students attend clinical experiences in the sleep center at Mather, as he was also a clinical preceptor. During this time, he was inducted into the Alpha Eta and Lambda Beta Societies, which is the national honor society for respiratory therapists and the national honor society for health care professionals.
In 2005, Russ made the transition to work full time in academia in Stony Brook Universities Respiratory Care Program. Russ began as a clinical instructor, and was tasked with heading a continuing education program for both Respiratory Therapists and training courses in Polysomnography. The first 10 years in the Respiratory Care Program, Russ lead the continuing education with over 38 courses over 8 years. The courses were weekend, 5-day, and 10-day courses in various topics related to Polysomnographic Technology. Russ worked with university as well as the American Academy of Sleep Medicine to open an accredited 2-week A-STEP Polysomnography Program. As the program evolved, and student interest grew, the direction of the school was to open a CAAHEP Accredited certificate program in Polysomnography. That program opened in 2011 and was shuttered a few years later, as NY State law enacted Polysomnography as a licensed profession. Russ was tasked with upgrading the certificate Polysomnography to the first entry level Bachelorette Polysomnography program in the country. The program became accredited in 2014, and unfortunately was shuttered in 2020. Russ was promoted to Clinical Associate Professor in 2016.
Over the years, Russ has authored or co-authored over 15 articles, presented at various national, state and local conferences, presented numerous poster presentations, consulted as an expert witness, and consulted at opening, managing, and assisted in AASM accreditation at various sleep centers across the tri state area. Russ was an item writer for the NBRC Sleep Disorders Specialist exam, and for several past years, is an writer for the NBRCs Credential Maintenance Program for the Registered Respiratory Therapist and the Sleep Disorders Specialist credentials. He has been a site visitor for Commission on Accreditation for Respiratory Care (CoARC) Polysomnographic Specialty Option for 19 years and was recently selected as a site visitor for Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs’ (CAAHEP) Committee on Accreditation for Polysomnographic Technologist Education programs (CoA PSG).
Russ has been actively involved in various research projects and over the past several years, as he has been either the PI or the Co-PI for funding from the Governors Traffic Safety Committee (GTSC) and the National Road Safety Foundation (NRSF). The goal of these grants was to reduce incidence of drowsy driving related crashes and injuries in New York State. He was the Co-Pi on a drowsy driving prevention social media campaign to and of the Drowsy Driving Prevention Research and Curriculum Development project. Russ’ current research projects for 2022-2023 include being the PI of the Stony Brook University Evaluation of Sleep, Depression, Fatigue among Stony Brook Students, a seed project, the Co-Pi on GTSC’s 2021-2022 Improving Fatigue and Healthy Lifestyle Practices of NY State Law Enforcement Professionals and 2022-2023 Pilot Implementation of a Sleep Health Educational Program for NY State Law Enforcement Professionals. He is also a Co-I on a NIMH grant called the Role of the Metabotropic Glutamate Receptor Subtype 5 in Circadian Rhythm Misalignment and Depression: Implications for treatment and an Association of Schools Advancing Health Professions (ASAHP) sponsored grant Creating an Interdisciplinary Service-learning Project for Health Professionals to Promote the Health and Wellness of Children Who Are Obese. These grants allow Russ to recruit students in the Respiratory Care Program to work in varous research opportunities and gain experience with subject interactions.
Russ has also been actively involved in various volunteer positions such as a Board Member of the NY State Respiratory Therapy Board, Chair of the Board of Registered Polysomnographic Technologists (BRPT) Professional Review Committee, committee member of the American Association of Sleep Technologists (AAST) Standard and Guidelines Committee and Educational Committee, and the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) Sleep Technologist and Respiratory Therapist Education Committee. He has presented about cardiology, polysomnography and sleep, and respiratory therapy at Stony Brook Science and Research Awareness Series (SARAS) series every summer for over 12 years. Russ has also has presented at Long Island University’s Summer Health Internship Program over the past several years for topics including respiratory therapy, polysomnography as a profession, and obesity. He also serves as a speaker at Stony Brook Universities AWAKEN support group, held at Stony Brook Hospital’s Sleep Center.
