Commissioner New Jersey Department of Human Services
Associate Director for Health Equity, Office on Smoking and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
President, WI Community Health Alliance
Professor Emeritus of Psychology at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County and Director of the MDQuit tobacco resource center, the Center for Community Collaboration
Distinguished Endowed Chair in Research, Distinguished Professor, Director of the Center on Mindfulness and Integrative Health Intervention Development, University of Utah
Special Agent in Charge, Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA)
Public Health Advisor (Harm Reduction Lead) at SAMHSA Center for Substance Abuse Prevention
University of Washington School of Medicine
Science Journalist | Author | International Speaker
Women's Empowerment Coach, Founder | Essentially Zenful LLC
Licensed Psychotherapist, Clinical Director, & Author, Therapy with Joy, LLC
Associate Professor, Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences University of Washington School of Medicine
CEO & Executve Director, NJPN
Journalist, Author
Mindfulness Based Addiction Recovery MBAR
DEI Consultant/Strategist
Director of the Center for Gambling Studies, Rutgers
New Jersey Commissioner of Health
Captain, NJ State Police
Director of Policy, Research and Evaluation, National Crime Prevention Centre, Canada
Founder, Hookey Wellness
Executive Director, National LGBT Cancer Network
Executive Director, Mindsight Institute
Executive Director, CASA Community Action, Service and Advocacy
Chief of the Epidemiology and Biometry Branch. Senior Scientific Advisor to the NIAAA Director
Diane Litterer, MPA, CPS, has been in the field of public health for over 30 years working to reduce the harmful consequences of alcohol, tobacco and other drug misuse. Diane, as the CEO of NJPN, manages a comprehensive workforce development program covering the continuum of addiction professionals and leads community prevention initiatives across the state. Diane builds capacity among professionals to increase the use of evidenced-based programs and practices and to implement effective strategies that create healthier communities.
Dr. Siegel is a clinical professor of psychiatry at the UCLA School of Medicine and the founding co-director of the Mindful Awareness Research Center at UCLA. He is also the Executive Director of the Mindsight Institute which focuses on the development of mindsight, teaches insight, empathy, and integration in individuals, families and communities. Dr. Siegel has published extensively for both the professional and lay audiences. His five New York Times bestsellers are: Aware: The Science and Practice of Presence, Mind: A Journey to the Heart of Being Human, Brainstorm: The Power and Purpose of the Teenage Brain, and two books with Tina Payne Bryson, Ph.D: The Whole-Brain Child, and No-Drama Discipline. His other books include: IntraConnected (coming October 2022), The Developing Mind, The Pocket Guide to Interpersonal Neurobiology, Mindsight, The Mindful Brain, The Mindful Therapist, and Becoming Aware. He has also written The Yes Brain and The Power of Showing Up with Tina Payne Bryson, Ph.D. Dr. Siegel also serves as the Founding Editor for the Norton Professional Series on Interpersonal Neurobiology which currently contains over seventy textbooks.
Ms. Susan A. Gibson is the Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration's New Jersey Division. Ms. Gibson's strong and diverse law enforcement background has afforded her successful working relationships with her state and local counterparts, extensive experience in international drug trafficking organizations and the illicit sale of pharmaceuticals. Ms. Gibson began her law enforcement career as a Police Officer and Narcotics Detective with the Mount Pleasant Police Department, South Carolina. In 1997, Ms. Gibson was hired as a DEA Special Agent and was assigned to the New York City Division's High Intensity Drug Trafficking Unit where she gained invaluable experience conducting both domestic and international narcotics investigations. Early in her career, Ms. Gibson was trained as a Trauma Team Member and promoted to a Group Supervisor in the New York City Drug Enforcement Task Force, In June 2014, Ms. Gibson was promoted to Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the New York City Drug Enforcement Task Force overseeing six active enforcement groups. In addition to her duties as an Assistant Special Agent in Charge and then selected for promotion into the Senior Executive Service as the Deputy Assistant Administrator in DEA's Diversion Control Division's Regulatory Program, with the responsibility over 1.8 million DEA registrants. In this capacity, she led the programs responsible for the regulation of all controlled substances within the United States and to ensure the proper registration for those who could access them. Ms. Gibson traveled to the. Republic of China as a representative of DEA to work with the Ministry of Public Safety to advocate for the control of all Fentanyl substances produced in their country, ultimately resulting in the control of 32 substances by the Republic of China, and a review of a class control for Fentanyl. Ms. Gibson has testified in front of the United States Congressional House and Energy Committee on the dangers of Synthetic drugs in the United States and the efforts the Drug Enforcement Administration has taken to combat the importation and distribution within the United States. In March 2019, Ms. Gibson became the Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration's New Jersey Division, overseeing all of DEA's operations in New Jersey. Ms. Gibson graduated from the University of South Carolina with a degree in Criminal Justice.
Dr. Lia Nower is a Professor and Director of the Center for Gambling Studies at Rutgers University. Her research focuses on the etiology and treatment of problem and pathological gambling and co-morbid addictive disorders and gambling-related policy issues. Dr. Nower has served as an NIH pre-doctoral fellow, a Fulbright fellow, and a research intern at the National Research Council at the National Academies. She is currently Co-Editor of International Gambling Studies and a consultant and grant reviewer for international, national and state agencies. Dr. Nower is also a member of the legislative and research boards and a clinical supervisor for the National Council on Problem Gambling in Washington D.C.
A former criminal prosecutor, she serves as a forensic consultant in state and federal court cases involving gambling-related crimes. Current research includes developing a sub-group specific screening instrument for problem gamblers, exploring risk and resiliency factors among youth gamblers, and developing diversion programs for individuals charged with gambling-related crimes. Dr. Nower has also co-authored several policy initiatives, including a model for self-exclusion programs and an industry framework promoting informed-choice in gambling venues.
Specialties: Dr. Nower specializes in behavioral addictions; gambling research/studies; policy analysis; prevention, intervention and treatment of problem gambling; behavioral addiction; impulse control disorders; psychometric measurement; mental health law.
Leanne Jamison is a Licensed Professional Counselor, Certified Holistic Life Coach, and Women’s Empowerment Coach. She has spoken at local, national, and global conferences on topics that include Women in Leadership, Business Breakthrough for Female Entrepreneurs, Mindfulness: The Power of Presence, Wealth Consciousness, Manifestation, Authentic Living, and Mindfulness in Recovery. She has presented at the World Congress on Ultimate Women’s Expo, NAADAC, NBCC, and NASW. Leanne launched her business Essentially Zenful, LLC, in 2020, which focuses on Empowerment Coaching for Trailblazing Women. Through her Next Level Life Coaching Programs, women are empowered to release long standing self-limiting beliefs that have held them back in life, so they are able to embrace their Authentic Self and align with their Highest Vision and Life Purpose. In short, she helps amazing, world changing, trailblazing women who are feeling stuck, stagnant, burned out and lost, gain clarity and inspiration of their next steps to their most Expansive Life and empowers them to live their life out loud!
Dr. Daniel Sansfaçon has a rich and diverse professional experience in the Canadian civil service, as a university professor, and in non-governmental organizations. He has acquired in-depth knowledge and practical experience of public policy development, policy and program evaluation, and social research, focusing in particular on criminal justice, drug policy and crime prevention issues. He has directed teams of professional researchers in the Departments of Justice, Public Safety and Status of Women in the Canadian government. He is currently managing policy and program work on drug-impaired driving and cannabis policy in Public Safety Canada. He holds a Ph.D. in sociology from Carleton University, and a Masters in Criminology from the University of Ottawa.
Chase Holleman, LCSW, LCAS serves as a Public Health Advisor (Harm Reduction Lead) in the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP). As part of the Office of Prevention Innovation (OPI), Chase serves in a lead role supporting harm reduction efforts within the Center and across the Agency as a subject matter expert. In his previous role as Assistant Professor at UNC-Greensboro, he co-founded and directed GCSTOP - a novel harm reduction services program that doubles as a clinical training site for undergraduate and graduate social work students. Chase does this work because he is tired of burying people he loves while knowing there is a better way. When not working to support harm reduction efforts, Chase enjoys spending time with his dog, Rio, and training for long-distance triathlons.
Dr. Eric Garland, PhD, LCSW is Distinguished Endowed Chair in Research, Distinguished Professor, and Associate Dean for Research in the University of Utah College of Social Work, Director of the Center on Mindfulness and Integrative Health Intervention Development (C-MIIND), Associate Director of Integrative Medicine in Supportive Oncology and Survivorship at the Huntsman Cancer Institute, and Research Health Scientist in Whole Health at the Salt Lake Veterans Administration Medical Center. Dr. Garland is the developer of an innovative mindfulness-based intervention founded on insights derived from cognitive, affective, and neurobiological science, called Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement (MORE). As Principal Investigator or Co-Investigator, he has received more than $60 million in research grants from a variety of prestigious entities including the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Department of Defense (DOD), and the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) to conduct bio-behavioral clinical trials to develop and test novel integrative health interventions, including trials of MORE as a treatment for opioid misuse, opioid use disorder, and chronic pain. In recognition of his expertise in mindfulness research, in 2012 Dr. Garland was named Fellow of the Mind and Life Institute, the world’s premier, multidisciplinary organization for the scientific study of contemplative practices, and in 2019 was inducted as a Fellow into the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare. Dr. Garland served as Chair of the Research Working Group of the National Academic Consortium for Integrative Medicine and Health, and in 2019 was appointed by NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins to the NIH HEAL Multi-Disciplinary Working Group comprised of national experts on pain and addiction research to help guide the nation’s $1.1 billion HEAL initiative to use science to halt the opioid crisis. Dr. Garland has had over 200 scientific articles and book chapters published in respected, peer-reviewed outlets. In a recent bibliometric analysis of mindfulness research published over the past 55 years, Dr. Garland was found to be the most prolific author of mindfulness research in the world. His work has been covered in multiple news outlets, including the New York Times, Time, National Public Radio (NPR), the LA Times, and U.S. News and World Report.
To complement his expertise in clinical research, Dr. Garland is a licensed psychotherapist (LCSW) with more than 15 years of clinical experience working with persons suffering from addictive behaviors, mood disorders, traumatic stress, chronic pain, and psychosomatic conditions. He has provided mindfulness-based therapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy, and clinical hypnosis for these patients across a wide range of integrative medicine and mental health settings. In recognition of his expertise as a psychotherapist, in 2015 Dr. Garland was elected Distinguished Fellow of the National Academies of Practice.
Dana Stevens, Executive Director, has been a community organizer, policy advocate and champion for marginalized populations her entire adult life. Her passion for community begins with empowering local residents to amplify their voice for healthy, safe options to thrive. Dana has been with CASA since 2007 and have served as Executive Director since 2013. Dana earned a BA in Urban Studies and Planning from the University of California, San Diego, a Certificate of Nonprofit Management from University of San Diego and a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from San Diego State University.
Dr. Aaron White is a Biological Psychologist (Neuroscientist) in the Office of the Director at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), where he serves as Senior Scientific Advisor to the Director. Dr. White received his PhD from Miami University (Ohio) in 1999. His graduate research focused on brain mechanisms underlying alcohol-induced amnesia (i.e., “blackoutsâ€). In 2001, After completing a two year post-doctoral fellowship in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Duke University Medical Center Aaron was appointed to the faculty as an Assistant Professor. His research there focused on the effects of alcohol on adolescent brain function and development, alcohol-induced blackouts in college students, and adolescent substance abuse treatment. During that time, Aaron was fortunate to help create an online science focused alcohol education course for college students, called AlcoholEdu, which has been completed by more than 2,000,000 students. In 2008, I began my position at NIAAA, where I remain interested in adolescent development, the influence of alcohol and other drugs on it, and strategies for promoting adolescent health. Over the years, he has appeared in dozens of educational videos, documentaries and news stories, delivered hundreds of presentations and published 50+ scientific articles and book chapters, mostly related to excessive alcohol use and its impact on adolescent brain function and behavior. Dr. White published two books on adolescent development, one focused on research in psychology and the other on findings from brain science, and a third on the immune system and disease (recently translated into Chinese). Recent manuscripts examined hospitalizations for alcohol and drug overdoses among teens and young adults in the United States, trends in suicide-related drug poisonings and co-occurring alcohol overdoses, research on the consequences of excessive drinking for young adults and trends in drinking by females relative to males in the United States.
Juliana M. Mosley-Williams has 20+ years of experience in education. Juliana currently serves as the inaugural Special Assistant to the President for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion at Salus University in Elkins Park, PA and previously held several positions in higher education as the Chief Diversity, Inclusion & Community Relations Officer at Chestnut Hill College, a Vice President for Student Affairs at Lincoln University, Edward Waters College, Marygrove College, and Philander Smith College; the Director of Multicultural Affairs at John Carroll University; the Executive Assistant to the President at Kentucky State University; and High School Business Teacher in Houston Independent School District. Juliana also serves as a consultant, having presented more than 80 times, to include a TEDx Talk, regional and national conferences, universities, non-profit organizations, government agencies, and corporations. In these instances, she provided training and development workshops in diversity and inclusion, leadership transition, strategic planning, and student development. Juliana earned a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and M.A. in Curriculum and Teacher Leadership from Miami University of Ohio, and B.S. in Business Education from Ball State University.
Affectionately called Dr. J. by her beloved students, Juliana’s commitment and service to education and the community is evident in her honors as a Philadelphia Tribune 2019 Woman of Achievement honoree, and recipient of the Student Leadership and Success Award for Administrators (2015). Juliana is also extremely committed to serving her local communities, currently serving as a board member of Philadelphia Education Fund; and former roles as grant reviewer for Chester County Fund for Women and Girls Grants Allocation Committee (West Chester, PA); board member for Girl Scouts of America (Gateway Council---Northern Counties of Florida); Steering Committee Chair for Save Our Sons (non-profit in Jacksonville FL); and 25+ year member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Juliana seeks to educate and train people to engage in difficult dialog through cultural humility to make the unconscious conscious.
Scout is the Executive Director of the National LGBT Cancer Network and the principal investigator of both the CDC-funded LGBTQ tobacco-related cancer disparity network and Out: The National Cancer Survey. He spends much of his time providing technical assistance for tobacco and cancer focusing agencies expanding their reach and engagement with LGBTQ+ populations. Scout has a long history in health policy analysis and a particular interest in expanding LGBTQ+ surveillance and research. He has faculty appointments at both Brown University and Boston Universitie’s Schools of Public Health. He is a member of the NIH Council of Councils, the Co-Chair of the NIH Sexual and Gender Minority Research Office Work Group, on the Advisory Panel for NIH’s All of Us initiative, and a U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention delegate. His work has won him recognition from the U.S. House of Representatives, two state governments, and many city governments. Scout is an openly transgender father of three, a vegetarian, an avid hiker and runner.
Natasha Buchanan Lunsford, Ph.D. is the associate director for Health Equity in the CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health. She provides leadership on efforts to advance health equity and to eliminate tobacco-related disparities. During her CDC tenure, she has served as a subject matter expert, technical lead and project officer for both domestic and international CDC-funded projects. She has authored nearly 60 publications and delivered numerous presentations on commercial tobacco, chronic disease conditions, health disparities and strategies to advance health equity. Dr. Buchanan Lunsford received advanced degrees from the University of Cincinnati and completed fellowships at Emory University School of Medicine and Yale University School of Medicine.
Dr. Valerie (Vimalasara) Mason-John, M.A (hon.doc) is a public speaker and master trainer in the field of conflict transformation, leadership and mindfulness. Valerie is the co-creator of Mindfulness Based Addiction Recovery (MBAR). They are a certified professional Mindfulness Teacher, Recovery Coach, Life Coach, and a Compassionate Inquiry Facilitator and Practitioner. Valerie has been practicing mindfulness for over 30 years and is one of the leading African-descent voices in the field of mindfulness and addiction. She trains professionals working in the field of addiction all over the world. They are also the author of Detox Your Heart: Meditations for Emotional Trauma — a self-help guide on mindfulness of negative emotions. Valerie was featured at TEDxRenfrewCollingwood where they gave a talk titled, We are what we think, which outlined a course of action we can take to work on the global epidemic of bullying. Valerie is the award-winning author of 10 books, and the co-author and co-founder of Eight Step Recovery: Using The Buddha’s Teaching to Overcome Addiction. Since its publication, it has won the Best USA Book Award 2014 and Best International Book Award 2015 in the self motivational and self help category. Eight Step Recovery offers an alternative to the 12 step program for addiction. Eight Step meetings are now taking place in the UK, USA, Canada, Mexico, India and Finland.
Beth Macy is the author of the critically acclaimed and New York Times-bestselling books, Factory Man, Truevine, and Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company That Addicted America (2018). Macy serves as an Executive Producer and writer on the acclaimed Hulu limited television series Dopesick, which is based on her book. Growing out of three decades of reporting from the same Virginia communities, as her prior books did, Dopesick unpacks the most intractable social problems of our time: the opioid crisis, set against a landscape of job loss, corporate greed and stigma, along with the families and first responders who are heroically fighting back. Overdose deaths are now the equivalent of a jetliner crashing in our country every day, and yet the government response to the epidemic remains, in a word, impotent. A longtime reporter who specializes in outsiders and underdogs, Macy has won more than a dozen national journalism awards, including a Lukas Prize for Factory Man, multiple shortlist and best-book-of-the-year honors for Truevine, and a Nieman Fellowship for Journalism at Harvard for her newspaper writing. A frequent speaker, teacher and essayist, Macy has been published in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker, Oprah magazine, and Parade. Her approach to storytelling: Report from the ground up, establish trust, be patient, find stories that tap into universal truths. Get out of your ZIP code. To do good journalism, be a human first. Her book, Raising Lazarus, Hope, Justice, and the Future of America's Drug Crisis (August 2022), focuses on solutions to the opioid crisis and the heroic efforts of frontline workers who are applying harm reduction practices on the streets of America. It also will document the efforts of activists and parents of the dead who are trying to hold the Sackler family accountable for the crisis they helped create.
Dorothy Chaney has more than twenty years of experience in community organizing, adult education, and substance abuse prevention work. She is the Proprietor of Wisconsin Community Health Alliance, an organization committed to supporting coalitions, organizations and individuals to improve the health of their communities and the environments in which they live. Chaney has a wealth of experience in community health improvement planning and community organizing. In addition to being the proprietor of the WI Community Health Alliance, Chaney currently serves as the secretary of the WI Behavioral Health Alliance and serves on the Prevention Committee of the WI State Council on Alcohol and Other Drugs (SCAODA). Dorothy served as Chairperson of the SCAODA Controlled Substances Work group which produced the report “Responding To Wisconsin’s Prescription Drug Abuse Crisis: A Call To Action” which was published in 2012, as well as the co-chair of the SCAODA work group that produced “Wisconsin’s Heroin Epidemic: Strategies and Solutions” which was published in August 2014. Dorothy is currently involved with the CADCA National Coalition Academy and has had the opportunity to co-facilitate MCTC cohort 8 in Iowa. In addition to being committed to supporting communities in public health efforts, Chaney is a strong youth advocate and is an elected Board of Education member in Marshfield WI, where she resides with her two daughters. Prior to moving to Wisconsin in 2006, Ms. Chaney served as the State Executive Director for MADD in Minnesota. Chaney has a bachelors degree in political science and a masters degree in adult education.
Joy Johnson is a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW) and psychotherapist in Atlanta, Georgia. Her work as a psychotherapist and writer is aimed at helping hardworking people who take care of everything and everyone else learn to take care of themselves and avoid burnout. Joy identifies as one of those people, and she first discovered self-compassion as a powerful personal practice to navigate her own struggles. Her passion for this work is rooted in the powerful healing it has brought to her life and the lives of her clients. Joy received her master’s degree in social work from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and has extensive experience in the field of mental health. Learn more about her work at www.Joy-Johnson.com and www.TherapyWithJoy.com
Captain Jason Piotrowski began his law enforcement career in 1995 as a local police officer before joining the New Jersey State Police in 2001. Jason was selected as an initial member of the state fusion center in 2006. Jason represented the State of New Jersey at the National Operations Center in Washington, D.C., during his fusion center tenure, serving multiple tours. During his time in the fusion center, Jason served as a supervisor in terrorism threat and violent crime units before being selected to help develop the New Jersey Drug Monitoring Initiative. Jason now directs the Office of Drug Monitoring and Analysis, overseeing the collection, analysis, intelligence production, and training and outreach efforts related to the drug environment and overdose epidemic. Jason is also currently a Bloomberg American Health Initiative Fellow and Master of Public Health Candidate at Johns Hopkins University, focusing on overdose and addiction.
Commissioner Sarah Adelman has led the New Jersey Department of Human Services since January 2021, and was confirmed as Commissioner in March 2022. Under her leadership, the Department has helped residents through the pandemic by making significant investments in child care and food assistance, improving and expanding services for older adults and individuals with disabilities, protecting health coverage for more than 2 million residents, and continuing to enhance mental health and addiction service
Adelman joined the Department in 2018, initially serving as a Deputy Commissioner, overseeing the Division of Developmental Disabilities, Division of Aging Services, and the Division of Medical Assistance and Health Services, which operates the Medicaid/NJ FamilyCare program. She also served on the Board of the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency.
The Department's programs serve one in three New Jersey children and one in five adults, with a budget of approximately $20 billion in state and federal funds and a staff of about 7,500.
Before joining Governor Murphy's Administration, Adelman served as Vice President at the New Jersey Association of Health Plans and Chief of Staff at the New Jersey Health Care Quality Institute. She also served on the Board of Trustees for Samaritan Healthcare and Hospice and the Board of Directors for a statewide child abuse and neglect prevention program.
Adelman received her Bachelor of Arts summa cum laude from Rowan University and a certificate in Advanced Healthcare Leadership from Seton Hall University as a fellow in the inaugural class of the New Jersey Healthcare Executives Leadership Academy.
Judith M. Persichilli, R.N., B.S.N., M.A., began serving as Acting Commissioner of Health on August 5, 2019. She was confirmed by the State Senate on January 9, 2020.
Prior to leading the department, Ms. Persichilli served as the Acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of University Hospital in Newark.
Ms. Persichilli was president emerita of CHE Trinity Health, the health ministry formed in May 2013 by the consolidation of Catholic Health East and Trinity Health of Livonia, MI. She previously served as the interim president and chief executive officer (CEO) of CHE Trinity Health. Prior to this appointment, Ms. Persichilli was President and CEO of Catholic Health East.
Ms. Persichilli joined CHE in 2003 as the Executive Vice President of the Mid-Atlantic Division. She was promoted to Executive Vice President of acute care for the system in 2008 and then to Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer in December 2009 before assuming the role of CEO. Prior to joining CHE’s System Office, she served for eight years as CEO at St. Francis Medical Center in Trenton.
Ms. Persichilli received her nursing diploma from the St. Francis Hospital School of Nursing, a Bachelor of Science in Nursing summa cum laude from Rutgers University, and a Master of Arts in Administration summa cum laude from Rider University. She also received an honorary Doctor of Health degree from Georgian Court University in 2009. In May 2011, Ms. Persichilli received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, CT.
In 2006, Ms. Persichilli was inducted into the New Jersey State Nurses Association Hall of Honor. She also received the Catholic Charities, Diocese of Trenton’s highest honor when she was awarded the 2008 Richard J. Hughes Humanitarian Award. In 2011, Ms. Persichilli was named one of the 50 most powerful people in New Jersey health care by NJ Biz and was selected by KYW Newsradio as a recipient of its annual Women’s Achievement Award. She also received the 2011 Edward J. Ill Excellence in Medicine Award for Outstanding Medical Executive. In September 2011, Ms. Persichilli was awarded the Benemerenti Medal, a papal honor bestowed on her by Pope Benedict XVI. In October 2011, the Philadelphia Business Journal’s inaugural Healthcare Innovation Awards program named Persichilli as the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award. Persichilli was named to Becker’s Hospital Review’s “300 Hospital and Health System Leaders to Know” list in 2012, which recognizes individuals leading prominent American health care organizations.
Persichilli co-founded the Catholic Foundation of Greater Philadelphia, which provides fundraising support to organizations throughout the Greater Philadelphia region. In April 2013, Modern Healthcare named Persichilli to its 2013 list of Top 25 Women in Healthcare. Ms. Persichilli resides in Pennington.
Erayna is a speaker, mental wellness champion and founder of Hooky Wellness— your one-stop for burnout relief. Personal experience gave her deep empathy for the challenges in the relief journey and set her on a mission to create practical burnout support that meets you where you are. Erayna has an MBA from Indiana University, is a Global Wellness Institute initiative member, and a contributing writer for Well+Good with guest appearances across publications including NPR Life Kit, Thrive Global, Balanced Black Girl Podcast, and Architectural Digest
Donna Jackson Nakazawa is an award-winning science journalist, author of seven books, and an internationally-recognized speaker whose work explores the intersection of neuroscience, immunology, and human emotion. Her upcoming book, Girls on the Brink: Helping Our Daughters Thrive in anEra of Increased Anxiety, Depression, and Social Media (Random House/Harmony 9/13/2022) is available for pre-order wherever books are sold. Donna’s other books include The Angel and the Assassin: The Tiny Brain Cell That Changed the Course of Medicine, named one of the best books of 2020 by Wired magazine, Childhood Disrupted, a finalist for the Books for a Better Life Award, and The Last Best Cure. Her writing has appeared in Wired, The Boston Globe, Stat, The Washington Post and Health Affairs. For her writing on health and science, she received the AESKU lifetime achievement award and the National Health Information Award. She has appeared on The Today Show and NPR and is a regular speaker at universities, including the Harvard Division of Science Library Series, Rutgers University, Johns Hopkins, Learning and the Brain, and the Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona. Donna is also the creator and founder of the narrative writing-to-heal program, Your Healing Narrative, which uses a process called Neural Re-Narrating™ to help participants recognize and override their brain’s old thought patterns and internalized stories, and create a new, powerful, inner healing narrative that calms the body, brain, and nervous system.
Dr. DiClemente is co-developer of the Transtheoretical Model of behavior change, and author of numerous scientific publications on motivation and behavior change with a variety of health and addictive behaviors. He has conducted funded research for the past 40 years with funding from NIH Institutes, SAMSHA, and Foundations. He published his most recent book Addiction and Change: How Addictions Develop and Addicted People Recover (second edition) in 2018. He has co-authored several professional books, The Transtheoretical Model, Substance Abuse Treatment and the Stages of Change (second edition), and Group Treatment for Substance Abuse: A Stages of Change Therapy Manual (Second Edition) and a self-help book, Changing for Good. For his work, he has received awards from the Robert Woods Johnson Foundation, American Society of Addiction Medicine, Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, as well as a Presidential Citation from the American Psychological Association. In 2019 he received the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) Jack Mendelson, M.D., Award and the 2019 Alfred Wellner Lifetime Achievement Award by the National Register of Health Services Psychologists. Dr. Carlo DiClemente received his Doctorate in Psychology at the University of Rhode Island and currently directs several training centers, the MDQUIT Tobacco Resource Center, the Center for Community Collaboration, and the Home Visiting Training Center at UMBC.
Addiction and Change, Second Edition: How Addictions Develop and Addicted People Recover Second Edition: Purchase
Dr Jason Kilmer is an Associate Professor, Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, at the University of Washington Medicine. The focus of Dr. Kilmer's research has primarily been the development, implementation, and evaluation of brief interventions and prevention efforts to reduce alcohol- and other drug-related harms among college students and other young adults. Professionally, Jason has more than 20 years of experience conducting research on substance abuse etiology and prevention with high school students, college students, and young adults. For many of UW Medicine NIAAA- and NIDA-funded projects, Jason has played a significant part in intervention development for studies using personalized graphic feedback (delivered either in-person or on the web). He has a strong interest in efforts to bridge the gap between science and practice, including ways to bring empirically-supported approaches to scale, and always appreciate opportunities to teach, train, present, and put the spotlight on science.
Dr. Brittney Hultgren is an Acting Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences University of Washington. Dr. Hultgren’s is interested in assessing risky alcohol and substance use and related consequences in young adults, with a specific focus on impaired driving-related behaviors. Her work has mostly utilized a behavioral decision-making approach to understand factors that influence young adults’ decisions to engage in risky behaviors. Dr. Hultgren work involves developing and adapting prevention and intervention programs to reduce alcohol and substance use and consequences.
