Els Van der Helm

Dr. Els van der Helm is a sleep neuroscientist, adjunct professor at IE Business School, and globally recognized expert on sleep, performance, and wellbeing. Named one of the top five sleep experts in the world by Thrive Global, she advises CEOs, leadership teams, and organizations worldwide on how to use sleep as a strategic tool for sharper thinking, stronger performance, and sustained energy.

With a PhD in Psychology from UC Berkeley and research experience at Harvard Medical School, Els has dedicated her career to understanding how sleep shapes cognitive performance, leadership, emotional resilience, and team effectiveness. Her work has appeared in Harvard Business Review, The Atlantic, TIME, Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, BBC, and many others. She is also the upcoming author of Sleep Intelligence: The High-Performance Blueprint for Sharper Thinking and Leadership, to be published by Penguin Dutton (US), Transworld (UK), and Spectrum (NL).

Els began her career during her Masters in Neurosciences (VU Amsterdam), studying how sleep impacts cognition at the Netherlands Institute of Neurosciences and Harvard Medical School. She later completed a second master’s degree in Clinical Neuropsychology (University of Amsterdam, summa cum laude) before earning her Fulbright-funded PhD at UC Berkeley. After her doctoral research, she worked as a management consultant at McKinsey & Company, grounding her scientific expertise in real-world business environments.

Today, Els delivers high-impact keynotes, workshops, webinars, and Sleep & Wellbeing Months, often supported by science-based assessments to provide personalized performance recommendations. She has worked with organizations such as McKinsey, Swiss Re, Takeda, AWS, NielsenIQ, and the EU Council in Brussels, helping leaders and teams improve sleep quality, reduce stress, and elevate performance

In addition to corporate work, Els serves as a boardroom advisor to companies in the sleep and wellbeing space, supporting product development, content creation, and organizational education grounded in rigorous science.

Her sessions are widely praised for their clarity, energy, and practical impact:

“I invited Els to host a session for my leadership team and was blown away by her presence on stage. Her session was vibrant and dynamic. She improvised and joked when something fell on stage, winning everyone over. I highly recommend Els to any company or senior leader to inspire their people on performance, sleep and energy management – so crucial, yet often neglected.“ – Thomas Wellauer, Group Chief Operating Officer Swiss Re