天美传媒

Andrew J. Gerber, MD, PhD, is medical director and CEO of the Austen Riggs Center and an associate clinical professor in the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Columbia University Medical Center. He is an associate clinical professor at the Child Study Center, Yale University. He is an adjunct associate professor of Psychological & Brain Sciences in the College of Natural Sciences at University of Massachusetts Amherst. He is the former co-director of the Sackler Parent-Infant Program at Columbia University, former director of the MRI Research Program at the New York State Psychiatric Institute, and former director of research at the Columbia University Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research. While in New York, he also had a private psychoanalytic practice.

Dr. Gerber completed a PhD in psychology at the Anna Freud Centre and University College London where he studied with Peter Fonagy and Joseph Sandler, investigating the process and outcome of psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic psychotherapy in young adults. He completed his medical and psychiatric training at Harvard Medical School, Cambridge Hospital, and Weill Cornell and Columbia medical schools and his psychoanalytic training at Columbia. He trained as a research fellow with Bradley Peterson at the New York State Psychiatric Institute in brain imaging and child psychiatry. He has published and received grants in the areas of developmental psychopathology, attachment, and functional neuroimaging of dynamic processes, including social cognition and transference. He has also been involved in planning and teaching psychoanalytic research as head of the Science Department at the American Psychoanalytic Association and chair of the Committee on Scientific Activities, secretary of the Psychoanalytic Psychodynamic Research Society, and a member of the psychotherapy research committees of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

Dr. Gerber is married to Andrea Gerber, PhD, who is a clinical psychologist. They have two young daughters, Samantha and Lila.

Dr. Gerber鈥檚 published scholarship shows his deep passion for research. For a list (and downloadable copies) of Dr. Gerber's publications, see: http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Andrew_Gerber

Jane G. Tillman, PhD, ABPP, is the Evelyn Stefansson Nef Director of the Erikson Institute for Education and Research at the Austen Riggs Center, a long-term psychiatric hospital and treatment center in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. A board-certified clinical psychologist and a psychoanalyst, Dr. Tillman is an assistant clinical professor at the Yale Child Study Center and a clinical instructor in psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at the Harvard Medical School. Dr. Tillman serves on the editorial boards of Psychoanalytic Psychology, and the Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association. She is the past-president of the Section on Women, Gender, and Psychoanalysis of Division 39, served two terms as the chair of the Ethics Committee for Division 39, and is a past board member of the Western Massachusetts Albany Association for Psychoanalytic Psychology (WMAAPP). 

RESEARCH AND SCHOLARSHIP
Dr. Tillman is the principal investigator on several externally funded studies related to understanding the contributors to suicidal states of mind and suicidal behavior.  She directs the Suicide Research and Education Initiative for the Erikson Institute. Dr. Tillman has presented and published on a wide variety of topics including dissociation, psychosis, religion, impasses in treatment, embodiment, clinical and professional ethics, research methodology, identifying markers for acute risk of suicide, and the effect of patient suicide on clinicians. She has also written on the intergenerational transmission of suicide.  

TRAINING
Dr. Tillman earned her AB from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, and MDiv from Duke University, a PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, and completed a pre-doctoral internship at the Dartmouth Medical School. She completed a four-year Fellowship in psychoanalytic psychotherapy at the Austen Riggs Center and is a graduate of the Berkshire Psychoanalytic Institute.

For a list (and downloadable copies) of Dr. Tillman's publications, see: http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jane_Tillman

Eric M. Plakun, MD, FACPsych, DLFAPA, is the associate medical director and director of biopsychosocial advocacy at the Austen Riggs Center, a long-term psychiatric hospital and treatment center in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, previously serving for 35 years as the director of admissions. A board-certified psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, researcher, and forensic psychiatrist, Dr. Plakun was a clinical instructor in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School for more than 20 years. In his role at Riggs, he advocates for 鈥淔our Freedoms鈥� we owe to those struggling with mental disorders: [1] Freedom from stigma; [2] Freedom from dehumanizing treatment; [3] Freedom to pursue meaning in life and in treatment; and [4] Freedom of choice in access to medically necessary and effective treatment. 

RESEARCH AND SCHOLARSHIP
Dr. Plakun was co-principal investigator of a prospective follow-along study of treatment outcome that utilized objective measures of psychodynamic constructs. He is the editor of New Perspectives on Narcissism (American Psychiatric Press, 1990) and Treatment Resistance and Patient Authority: the Austen Riggs Reader (Norton Professional Books, 2011), and author of close to fifty published papers and book chapters on the diagnosis, treatment, longitudinal course, and outcome of patients with [1] borderline and other personality disorders, [2] suicidal and self-destructive behaviors, and [3] treatment-resistant disorders. Dr. Plakun has presented more than one hundred scientific papers on these and other topics at professional meetings around the nation and overseas. 

Dr. Plakun is a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and founding leader of its Psychotherapy Caucus. He is a Psychoanalytic Fellow of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis and Dynamic Psychiatry, and in 2004 was appointed this group鈥檚 representative to the APA Assembly. He is a Fellow of the American College of Psychiatrists and past chair of its Ethics Committee, a Fellow of the American College of Psychoanalysts and member of its Board of Regents, a Diplomate of the American Board of Forensic Medicine, and a member of the editorial board of Psychodynamic Psychiatry. Dr. Plakun has appeared on CBS鈥� 60 Minutes as an expert in forensic psychiatry. He has served as an expert witness in federal class action lawsuits addressing the gap between restrictive insurance company access to care standards and generally accepted standards in psychiatry.
He has been quoted in the New York Times and the Toronto Globe and Mail. In 2003, Dr. Plakun was named by the Massachusetts Psychiatric Society as the 鈥淥utstanding Psychiatrist in Clinical Psychiatry.鈥� 

TRAINING
Dr. Plakun received his MD from the Columbia College of Physicians & Surgeons. After an internship in medicine at Dartmouth, Dr. Plakun worked as a rural general practitioner in Vermont before completing a psychiatric residency at Dartmouth and a Fellowship at the Austen Riggs Center in psychoanalytic studies.

For a list (and downloadable copies) of Dr. Plakun's publications, see: http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Eric_Plakun

Dr. Amit Shahane, PhD, is a clinical psychologist who serves as the director of the Behavioral Medicine Center at the University of Virginia Health System. Dr. Shahane specializes in treating psychological disorders, including PTSD, that impact medical illness. His research interests include examining the effectiveness of cognitive and behavioral treatments for insomnia, as well as healthcare utilization research, such as the effect of HIV stigma.

UVA's Behavioral Medicine Center diagnoses, treats and prevents medical problems either caused or aggravated by lifestyle or stress, including:
鈥�	Depression and anxiety
鈥�	Migraine and tension headaches
鈥�	Nervous stomach and irritable bowel syndrome
鈥�	Sleep problems
鈥�	Eating disorders


Listen to Shahane discuss sleep problems:
http://wina.com/morning-news/dr-amit-shahane-live-well/

Shahane discusses PTSD:
http://www.newsplex.com/content/news/Fourth-of-July-fireworks-potential-PTSD-trigger-for-area-veterans-385267411.html

In 2008, Heidi Zinzow joined Clemson鈥檚 College of Behavioral, Social and Health Sciences as an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology, bringing her knowledge as a licensed clinical psychologist into the classroom. Her work addresses factors that put individuals at risk of developing psychological symptoms due to trauma exposure, how to ameliorate related mental health symptoms and what the protective factors are. Applying science to practice and vice versa, she focuses on the development of intervention and prevention programs to improve a victim鈥檚 well-being, quality of life, and occupational and social functioning.

Zinzow鈥檚 in-depth understanding of different types of trauma spans sexual assault, interpersonal violence and mass violence. She examines trauma-related mental health outcomes including post-traumatic stress disorder and depression. Additionally, she has moved into substance use disorders 鈥揳nd risky substance use 鈥揳s a mechanism for violence perpetration and exposure. Another stream of her research is suicide prevention: how to develop efficacious programs that improve community members鈥� abilities to identify those at risk, ask difficult questions and provide support. 

With intervention and prevention program development, she examines technology-based tools such as virtual reality, online methodologies and digital apps to deliver programming. Along with other novel applications of technology to help advance the field, Zinzow looks at the role of social media and the propagation of harmful behavior. 

In clinical practice, she has analyzed intergenerational transmission of trauma, substance use and mental illness and how these variables affect each other. Working with the military, she has explored mental health and exposure to stress, combat and trauma, including military sexual assault. An as an expert consultant, she has investigated ways to work with communities to better address mass violence exposure. 

In collaboration, Zinzow has authored over 50 publications in scientific,peer-reviewed journals, which include 鈥淛ournal of Traumatic Stress,鈥� 鈥淛ournal of Interpersonal Violence,鈥� 鈥淐linical Psychology Review鈥� and 鈥淛ournal of Clinical and Consulting Psychology.鈥�

She co-founded Tigers Together to Stop Suicide, currently serves as an expert consultant for the National Mass Violence and Victimization Resource Center, and helps lead Clemson's NSF Tigers ADVANCE  initiative to improve campus gender equity.  She has received an  Emerging  Scholar Research  Excellence  Award and  Excellence in  Service and  Outreach  Award,  as well as an Outstanding Woman Faculty Member Award from the President's Commission on Women. 

Before joining Clemson, Zinzow completed a postdoctoral fellowship in traumatic stress with the National Crime Victims Research & Treatment Center at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC). In addition to her practice as a licensed clinical psychologist, she has served at many domestic violence and sexual assault centers. In her early career, she worked as a research assistant for Caliber Associates in Northern Virginia, outside of Washington, D.C., evaluating social programs that addressed domestic violence, child maltreatment and juvenile delinquency.

Dr. Medrano is a licensed clinical psychologist and member of the Dialectical Behavior Therapy and Couples Consultation groups at The Family Institute. He received his PhD from the University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee. He specializes in the care of depression and mood disorders, stress management, and coping with chronic health conditions and disabilities. To speak to Dr. Medrano about caring for the caregiver, or to learn more about The Family Institute, please contact Cyndi Schu, Director of Public Relations, at [email protected] or 312-609-5300, ext. 483.

Tom Greenfield, PhD, is Scientific Director of the Public Health Institute鈥檚 Alcohol Research Group, in Emeryville California, which involves 15 multi-disciplinary research scientists bringing a broad range of expertise to bear on alcohol, other drug and mental health problems.  Since 1995 Greenfield led and now co-lead the bi-decadal National Alcohol Surveys (NASs) conducted by the NIAAA-funded National Alcohol Research Center, that he directed from 1999 to 2015 (P50 AA005595, Years 20-35). Over time, the NAS has incorporated measures and interview modalities that he helped refine in a series of methodological studies.  Greenfield trained as a clinical psychologist, afterwards adding epidemiological and health services expertise in part through postdoctoral years at the UCSF Department of Psychiatry.  Educated at Caltech, MIT and the University of Michigan, he has authored or coauthored over 250 peer-reviewed articles, chapters, books and monographs.  Many are on health effects of alcohol and alcohol policy, often in collaboration with senior colleagues, early career scientists, and postdoctoral fellows.  In addition to participating in many national and international projects, Dr. Greenfield has led numerous R-mechanism National Institutes of Health projects on such topics as alcohol policy evaluation, health disparities and alcohol-related mortality, alcohol intake measurement, and comparative cross-national studies.  He currently leads two team-based Alcohol's Harms to Others R01 grants funded by NIAAA. One, together with his ARG colleague Dr. Katherine Karriker-Jaffe, examines ways that secondhand drinking can victimize partners, families, children, coworkers, and communities, using metrics such as the damage to mental health, health quality of life, and a family鈥檚 finances.  A second is a similar multinational collaboration involving standardized questionnaires in over 30 countries that surveyed victims and perpetrators of alcohol鈥檚 harms, and involves multiple PIs and 15 international co-investigators.  Both grants are examining in depth state and national policies, contextual, and protective influences, and ways to best reduce the toll of alcohol鈥檚 harms to communities.  

Selected recent publications:
Wilsnack, S.C., Greenfield, T.K., Bloomfield, K.A., (in press). The GENAHTO Project (Gender and Alcohol's Harm to Others): design and methods for a multinational study of alcohol's harm to persons other than the drinker. International Journal of Alcohol & Drug Research.
Greenfield, T. K. & Martinez, P. (2017) Alcohol as a risk factor for chronic disease: raising awareness and policy options. In: Giesbrecht, N. & Bosma, L. (Eds.), Preventing Alcohol-Related Problems: Evidence and Community-based Initiatives (pp 33-50). Washington, DC: APHA Press.
Greenfield, T.K., Ye, Y., Lown, E.A., Cherpitel, C.J., Zemore, S., & Borges, G. (2017) Alcohol use patterns and DSM-5 alcohol use disorder on both sides of the US-Mexico border. Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research 41:769-778. [DOI: 10.1111/acer.13356] PMICD: PMC5378627 
Greenfield, T.K., Karriker-Jaffe, K.J., Kerr, W.C., Ye, Y., & Kaplan, L.M. (2016) Those harmed by others鈥� drinking are more depressed and distressed, Drug and Alcohol Review, 35(1):22-29 [doi: 10.1111/dar.12324]. PMCID: PMC4775452
Greenfield, T.K., Bond J., Kerr W.C. (2014) Biomonitoring for improving alcohol consumption surveys: the new gold standard? Alcohol Research: Current Reviews 36(1): 39-44. PMCID: PMC4432857
Greenfield, T. K. (2013) [Editorial] Alcohol (and other drugs) in public health research. American Journal of Public Health 103(4):582.

M. Dolores Cimini is a New York State licensed psychologist who has provided leadership for comprehensive efforts in research-to-practice translation at the University at Albany since 1992 with over $9 million in support from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), U.S. Department of Education, U.S. Department of Justice, and New York State Office of Addiction Services and Supports. The screening and brief intervention program developed by Dr. Cimini, the STEPS Comprehensive Alcohol Screening and Brief Intervention Program, has earned 13 national awards for best practices and innovation in behavioral health care. 

Cimini is the director of the Middle Earth Peer Assistance Program at UAlbany, an agency recognized as a model/exemplary program in alcohol and other drug prevention by both the U.S. Department of Education and the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. She has published two books and numerous professional articles in both national and international refereed journals in the alcohol and substance use field and has earned two awards for excellence from the White House for her contributions to STEM mentoring. Cimini is a member of the Commission on Accreditation of the American Psychological Association and was the Past Chair of the APA Board for the Advancement of Psychology in the Public Interest, where she has had leadership for reviewing and disseminating APA鈥檚 practice standards focused on serving diverse and underrepresented groups and the addressing of issues related to psychology and social justice.

Dr. Nia Heard-Garris is a pediatrician and a researcher in the Department of Pediatrics at Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University; and also in the Division of Academic General Pediatrics and Mary Ann & J. Milburn Smith Child Health Research, Outreach, and Advocacy Center at the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children鈥檚 Hospital of Chicago. Dr. Heard-Garris is an active member in the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and serves as the Chair and founding member of the Provisional Section of Minority Health, Equity, and Inclusion.Dr. Heard-Garris recently completed a prestigious Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars Fellowship at the University of Michigan. She earned her Master of Science in Health and Healthcare Research. At the University of Michigan, she studied the influence of social adversities, such as vicarious racism or racism experienced secondhand, and environmental adversities, such as the Flint Water Crisis on health. As a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar, Dr. Heard-Garris served as a fellow at the United States Department of Health and Human Services with the Assistant Secretary of Preparedness and Response (ASPR) and at the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). She worked on the Flint Water Crisis and Zika while a fellow in those organizations. Dr. Heard-Garris trained at Children's National Medical Center in Washington, DC for her pediatric residency. During her residency, she completed a health policy fellowship and worked in Honduras, as a part of her global health track. She received her Doctor of Medicine (MD) from Howard University College of Medicine and helped to launch the student-run free clinic serving DC residents. Dr. Heard-Garris earned her Bachelor of Science in biology at Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia.

Dr. Heard-Garris's overarching research interests revolve around the relationship between adversities experienced early in childhood and health. Further, those interests also include the factors that contribute to a child鈥檚 ability to thrive despite these experiences. Through her research, she aims to generate the knowledge to help inform evidence-based interventions that help pediatricians and policymakers build resilience in children and in the communities that support children. Her long-term goal is to understand the role of childhood stress in the development of pediatric illnesses and key mitigating factors, so that family-centered, culturally appropriate strategies can be developed to treat, prevent, and ultimately lessen the burden adversity has on health throughout the life course.

Dr. Heard-Garris is a general pediatrician and enjoys caring for children from diverse backgrounds, including children from immigrant backgrounds. Through her research and clinical work, she hopes to help all children thrive.

Colleen Cicchetti is an Associate Professor at Northwestern University鈥檚 Feinberg School of Medicine and the Executive Director of the Center for Childhood Resilience (CCR) at Lurie Children鈥檚 Hospital of Chicago where she has worked as a clinical psychologist for nearly three decades. Dr. Cicchetti is passionate about and committed to addressing health disparities and decreasing exposure to violence and trauma for children and families via innovative public health strategies and multidisciplinary collaboration. Throughout her career, she has focused on connecting children with the mental health services they need; equipping providers with effective programming; and identifying new evidence-based interventions that address the emerging mental health needs of children and youth. In 2015, she founded CCR as an extension of the Community Linked Mental Health Services Program (2004), to provide trainings, education, and outreach to school professionals, community agencies, city leaders, and parents to increase young people鈥檚 access to mental health services. To address the issue of mental health reform holistically and support the framework for trauma-informed systems, CCR鈥檚 work focuses on five primary domains; School Mental Health, Trauma-Informed Child Serving Systems, Implementation Science, Pre-Professional Training, and Advocacy. 

In addition to her work with CCR, Dr. Cicchetti serves in leadership roles in numerous statewide advocacy groups, including her role as Clinical Director of the Illinois Childhood Trauma Coalition, Co-Chair of the School-Age Practices and Policies Committee of the Illinois Children鈥檚 Mental Health Partnership, and membership in the Planning and Practices Committee of the Kennedy Forum Illinois and Healthy Communities Advisory Committee at Lurie Children鈥檚 Hospital. She is also a leader in several city-wide mayoral initiatives aimed at addressing violence and other forms of trauma; has provided testimony on behalf of children and families in Chicago, Springfield, and Washington, D.C.; and contributed to legislation that addresses the critical need for building awareness, prevention and intervention strategies for children who experience trauma in Chicago and throughout the nation. 

Dr. Cicchetti has been the recipient of awards from multiple agencies and philanthropic organizations during her tenure with Lurie Children鈥檚 and Northwestern University. Most recently she received the Chicago Humanitarian Award by UNICEF USA, for her critical work with CCR and positive impact on children and families throughout the city. Furthermore, she was named, Public Educator of the Year, by the National Alliance on Mental Illness - Chicago (NAMI) for her service, leadership, and positive contributions to children鈥檚 mental health. 

Dr. Cicchetti received her Bachelor of Science degree from Duke University, a Master of Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and a doctorate in clinical psychology from Northwestern University Medical School.

Dr. Raviv provides clinical mental health services through Lurie Children鈥檚 Pritzker Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health through the Trauma Treatment Service and General Outpatient Services Program, with a specific focus on youth exposed to stress and trauma. Dr. Raviv has published work in the areas of school mental health, child maltreatment, risk and resilience factors for youth exposed to stress and trauma, and the dissemination and implementation of evidence-based mental health programs. Most recently, she co-authored the resource book, Creating Healing School Communities: School-Based Interventions for Students Exposed to Trauma which is one in a series aimed at supporting clinicians who are working in schools and communities. 

Dr. Raviv is a member of the Steering Committee of the PATHH Collaborative, a group of community agencies convened by the Chicago Children鈥檚 Advocacy Center working to increase access to quality mental health services for children who have experienced sexual abuse. She is also a member of the Workforce Development Sub-Committee of the Illinois Childhood Trauma Coalition.

Dr. Raviv holds a Bachelor of Arts from Emory University, a Master of Science in Child Clinical Psychology from University of Denver, and a PhD in clinical psychology from University of Denver.

Tali Raviv has been with the Center for Childhood Resilience since 2009. She has more than 15 years of experience in community and school mental health. Dr. Raviv鈥檚 work focuses on increasing knowledge and awareness about the impact of childhood trauma on children鈥檚 development and wellbeing, and translating evidence-based interventions for traumatized youth to school and community settings. She has particular expertise in program development and evaluation for at-risk youth and families, including those exposed to poverty. 

Tracy R. G. Gladstone, Ph.D., is an associate director and senior research scientist at the Wellesley Centers for Women as well as the inaugural director of the Robert S. and Grace W. Stone Primary Prevention Initiatives, which aims to research, develop, and evaluate programs to prevent the onset of depression and other mental health concerns in children and adolescents. She is also an assistant in psychology at Boston Children鈥檚 Hospital, an instructor at Harvard Medical School, and a research scientist at Judge Baker Children鈥檚 Center.

At the Wellesley Centers for Women, Gladstone is evaluating an internet-based depression prevention intervention for at-risk adolescents in a multi-site, federally funded trial. As a senior member of the Baer Prevention Initiatives Dissemination Program at Boston Children鈥檚 Hospital, she is working on developing and disseminating web-based educational resources for clinicians and for parents who are concerned about depression. She has served as a senior member of the Preventive Intervention Project research team at Judge Baker Children鈥檚 Center, which compares two family-based prevention programs for early adolescents at risk for depression because they have a parent with a depressive disorder. She also has developed and piloted a cognitive-behavioral group intervention for women who are recovering from fistula repair surgery in Ethiopia.

Gladstone holds a health service provider psychologist license in Massachusetts and has been trained in evidence-based clinical prevention and intervention protocols. She has conducted prevention-oriented work with children and families, and she has served as a clinical supervisor for researchers working with depressed families, as well as for clinical trainees. She has co-authored a number of peer-reviewed manuscripts reporting the results of her research endeavors and has taken an active role in teaching about depression, prevention, and intervention in local, national, and international settings.

Perry N Halkitis, Ph.D., MS, MPH is a public health psychologist, researcher, educator, and advocate who
is Dean and Professor of Biostatistics and Urban-Global Public Health at the School of Public Health at
Rutgers University. Dr. Halkitis is the founder and director of the Center for Health, Identity, Behavior &
Prevention Studies (CHIBPS).

For three decades, Dr. Halkitis鈥� program of research has examined the intersection of HIV, HPV, and
other STIs, with drug abuse and mental health burden. This research program seeks to determine the
biological, behavioral, psychosocial, and structural factors that predispose these and other health
disparities in the LGBTQ population and in turn, to translate this knowledge through the development of
tailored and adaptive interventions in order to reduce disparities. CHIBPS also is a training site for the
next generation of scholars who seek to improve the health of LGBTQ people and populations. His
research program has been awarded over $30 million in grant funding.

Dr. Halkitis is the author of the 2019 book, Out in Time: The Public Lives of Gay Men from Stonewall to
the Queer Generation. His 2013 book, The AIDS Generation: Stories of Survival and Resilience, is a
2014 Lambda Literary Award nominee. Both books received the American Psychological Association
Distinguished Book Award in LGBT Psychology. Dr. Halkitis is also the author of Methamphetamine
Addiction: Biological Foundations, Psychological Factors, and Social Consequences, and lead editor of
two additional books. He has authored over 250 peer-reviewed academic manuscripts, hundreds of
papers for professional conferences, and dozens of keynotes. Because he conducts work on the hyphen of
theory and practice, Dr. Halkitis actively disseminates knowledge to mainstream media, appearing
frequently on television, radio, and podcasts.

Throughout his career, Dr. Halkitis has been at the forefront of fighting for the rights of those infected
with and affected by HIV, as well as being an outspoken advocate for the rights and health of the LGBTQ
population. Dr. Halkitis is actively involved in all aspects of community building and empowerment
through the dissemination and translation of the innovative, timely, and valuable public health research
that he and his teams at Rutgers and CHIBPS undertake. Dr. Halkitis holds degrees in psychology, education, and public health and is a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Delta Omega (Public Health), Kappa Delta Pi (Education), and Sigma Xi Research Honor Society.

Christopher M. Palmer, MD, received his medical degree from Washington University School of Medicine and completed his internship and psychiatry residency at McLean Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Harvard Medical School. He is currently the director of the Department of Postgraduate and Continuing Education at McLean Hospital and an assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.

For over 20 years, Dr. Palmer鈥檚 clinical work has focused on treatment resistant cases, and recently he has been pioneering the use of the ketogenic diet in psychiatry, especially treatment resistant cases of mood and psychotic disorders.

Dr. Samuel Weiss is a professor in the Departments of Cell Biology & Anatomy and Physiology & Pharmacology at the University of Calgary Cumming School of Medicine. Dr. Weiss is the founder and was the inaugural Director of UCalgary鈥檚 Hotchkiss Brain Institute, whose mission is to translate innovative research and education into advances in neurological and mental health care.

Two major discoveries are the hallmarks of Dr. Weiss' research career. In 1985, together with Dr. Fritz Sladeczek, Dr. Weiss discovered the metabotropic glutamate receptor - now a major target for pharmaceutical research and development for neurological disease therapies. In 1992, Dr. Weiss discovered neural stem cells in the brains of adult mammals. This research has led to new approaches for brain cell replacement and repair, as well as to novel, experimental therapeutic strategies for brain cancer. As the Scientific Director of CIHR-INMHA, Dr. Weiss works with the Canadian neurosciences, mental health and addiction communities to identify research priorities, develop research funding opportunities, build partnerships and translate research evidence into policy and practice to improve the health of Canadians and people around the world. As a member of CIHR's leadership team, he participates in setting and implementing CIHR's strategic direction.

Dr. Vaishnav is a first-generation Indian immigrant who migrated from Mumbai, India 11 years ago. As an immigrant and a woman of color, she is familiar with struggles related to moving to a new country, experiencing cross-cultural and identity related concerns, and navigating experiences of discrimination in interpersonal relationships and work environments.
She has worked with teenagers, young adults, adults, and older adults experiencing a wide variety of concerns including relationship issues, depression, anxiety, substance abuse, terminal illness & more. 

Nika Gueci has been working in college and public health for more than a decade, examining topics from collegiate recovery to suicide prevention.

Gueci serves as Executive Director at Arizona State University鈥檚 Center for Mindfulness, Compassion and Resilience where she advances well-being through the promotion of skills such as mindfulness and compassion to support lifelong resilience. 

Creating a culture where wellness is of vital importance to thriving is her daily call to action. She develops curricula for mindfulness leadership workshops, retreats, and Selectives for Mayo Clinic medical students; writes curricula as content expert and talent manager for online courses such as the Health and Wellness: Mind and Body series and the nanocourse mindfulness series for Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, she established the Caring and Connection Initiative in an effort to build a virtual community and provide compassionate support.

Joanne Cacciatore is an expert in community development, traumatic grief, psychology and mental health. 

Cacciatore is an associate professor at the School of Social Work. Her research is focused in traumatic death and grief including: etiology, epidemiology, culturally-appropriate interventions, social support, coping, meditation and mindfulness-based approaches. 

Cacciatore started The Selah Carefarm, the first carefarm for the traumatically bereaved in the U.S. and it's just outside of Sedona, Arizona. It鈥檚 a 10 acres of farmland where bereaved family members can come to both give and receive connection, compassion, and understanding. All the animals on the carefarm have been rescued from abuse, neglect, and torture.

Her work was featured on Oprah Winfrey and Prince Harry's Apple TV docuseries The Me You Can't See that explores the current state of the world鈥檚 mental health and emotional well-being through storytelling.

Cacciatore's best selling book, Bearing the Unbearable: Love, Loss, and the Heartbreaking Path of Grief, is a national award winning best seller that has helped revolutionize the way our culture thinks, and feels, about grief. She works with and counsels families from all around the world who have experienced catastrophic deaths.

Dr. Haas is a professor at Palo Alto University in the Department of Psychology with a specialization in college student substance abuse issues. Her research focuses on the identification of high-risk drinking and drug use practices in college students and the development of targeted interventions using a harm reduction model. She worked in collaboration with Santa Clara University for several years developing new programs for alcohol prevention and education and has consulted with other universities to guide campus prevention programming. Her work focuses on behaviors like pregaming (i.e., drinking before students go out to consume alcohol at a function), co-occurring cannabis and alcohol use, overdoses, and factors related to alcohol-induced blackout and sexual risk taking. In her career she has received funding through NIDA and the U.S. Department of Education.  

Charlie Foster OBE is the Head of the Centre for Exercise, Nutrition and Health Sciences. He influences public guidance about the types and levels of physical activity needed to offset health concerns and has produced UK national guidelines on physical activity for every age group. Dr Foster's specialisms include communicating exercise guidelines to healthcare professionals, common measurements of public health improvements, the benefits of hi-intensity physical activity (HIT) sessions, the impact of regular exercise on the brain, and the relationship between accessing green spaces and positive mental health. Dr Foster is one of the UK's leading epidemiologists for physical activity and health and was awarded an OBE for his services to physical activity promotion in 2019. Outside of the UK, he has worked with the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the USA, and the government of South Korea. He has also been the President of the International Society of Physical Activity and Health. He provided evidence and expert testimony to the House of Lords All Party Parliamentary COVID-19 Committee on the impact of Covid on physical activity and the impact of technology use on health.

Education
1989 - BEd Education, University of Exeter, 
1997 - MSc Health Promotion, Birmingham City University, 
2006 - PhD Medical Sciences, University of Warwick

Accomplishments
2016 - President of International Society for Physical Activity and Health, 
2017 - Elected Fellow by Distinction (FFPH), Faculty of Public Health, 
2019 - Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to the promotion of physical activity