David DeSteno is a professor of psychology at Northeastern University. At the broadest level, his work examines the mechanisms of the mind that shape vice and virtue. Studying honesty and compassion, altruism and punishment, cooperation and trust, his work continually reveals the forces that underlie moral behavior. David is a fellow of the Association for Psychological Science and the American Psychological Association, for which he served as editor-in-chief of the journal Emotion. His work has been repeatedly funded by the National Science Foundation and the John Templeton Foundation. He is the author of several books, including most recently “How God Works: The Science Behind the Benefits of Religion.” He frequently writes about his work for major publications including The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and Harvard Business Review. He also hosts the PRX podcast How God Works: The Science Behind Spirituality. David received his Ph.D. in psychology from Yale University.
Dr Cullan Joyce is a passionate collaborator, activist, and meditation practitioner and is an Insight Fellow at the University of Melbourne’s Contemplative Studies Centre. He has 20 years of living with, studying, and practising different Buddhist and Christian contemplative traditions in Australia and overseas, particularly China and Vietnam. He has lived (now part-time) in a contemplative interfaith community outside Melbourne since 2018.
He helped organise Extinction Rebellion Regenerative Culture or Regen until 2021 by supporting the community’s well-being and providing care during disruptive actions. He collaborates with several activist and deep-ecology spaces to curate a sustainable, regenerative culture.
His research examines how the insights and practices of contemplative traditions can support communities during the Anthropocene.
Julieta Galante is a qualified medical doctor specialised in public mental health research. She typically applies rigorous methods to real-world scenarios, involving stakeholders, acknowledging social dynamics, and embracing complexity. Her main focus has been to study the potential of meditation practices for mental health promotion, particularly those techniques used in secular settings. The practices she has studied the most are mindfulness and loving-kindness meditation, and their impact on psychological and social outcomes. She is a passionate advocate of interdisciplinary work, and of improving research quality and transparency whenever possible.
Ana Eclair is an Associate Professor in Gender Studies and Insight Fellow at the Contemplative Studies Centre at the University of Melbourne. Her research intersects feminist, queer, decolonial and care studies and investigates the ways in which structural inequalities shape people’s experiences of everyday life. Ana is passionate about understanding contemporary pursuits of eudaimonia – the cultivation of human flourishing and living well. Her current contemplative practice research builds on her work on modalities of healing for long-term effects of intergenerational harm and gendered violence, such as systemic work, psychedelic medicine, art therapy, and mindfulness, among others.
Blake Colaianne is an Assistant Research Professor at Penn State University. His research examines how contemplative education supports social and emotional development in high school and college students. Currently, he is developing and implementing systems-level programming within K-12 and university settings. His relational approach to contemplative practice focuses on cultivating community and interdependence.
At Penn State, Blake teaches Art and Science of Human Flourishing and Mindfulness in Human Development. He is trained as a relational facilitator through the Courage of Care organization. He completed his Ph.D. at Penn State University, M.Ed at Harvard Graduate School of Education, and B.S. at Juniata College. Prior to graduate school, Blake was a high school science teacher for five years.
Jennifer B. Webb, Ph.D., RYT-200 is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychological Science and the Health Psychology Ph.D. Program at UNC Charlotte where she directs the WE ARE MIND-BODY KYND Lab. She received her undergraduate degree in Cognitive Neuroscience from Harvard University. She went on to complete her Ph.D. in clinical psychology at the University of Southern California and postdoctoral fellowship training in clinical health psychology at Duke Integrative Medicine. Dr. Webb’s research program is informed by a non-dieting, weight-neutral philosophy on wellness equity promotion in culturally- and body-diverse groups. A particular emphasis is placed on enhancing the integration, dissemination, and accessibility of evidence-based mind-body approaches (e.g., yoga, self-compassion, mindful and intuitive eating, mindful self-care, etc.) to strengthen embodied self-regulation, positive body image, and well-being among individuals during the developmental transitions of adolescence, emerging adulthood, pregnancy, and the postpartum. Dr. Webb also currently serves as an Associate Editor for Body Image: An International Journal of Research, an advisory board member of the Give Back Yoga Foundation, an ambassador for Accessible Yoga, a community partner with the Yoga and Body Image Coalition, an academic advisory network member of the Embrace Collective, and is a former member of the Scientific Program Committee of the Symposium on Yoga Research.
Anat Perry is an associate professor at the Psychology department, at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where she established the University’s Social Cognitive Neuroscience Lab. Before joining the Hebrew University, she was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, Berkeley. Perry studies various facets of empathy and related social processes through the prism of social cognitive neuroscience. Three pressing questions motivate her research. (1) First, what are the behavioral and brain mechanisms that underlie social psychological phenomena, specifically those relating to empathy and understanding others? (2) Second, what overlap or divergence exists between social and non-social cognitive processes? (3) Finally, how can answers to the previous two questions help us understand deficits in social cognition (e.g., autism, social anxiety, psychopathy)? Her research combines theoretical insight with a broad set of research techniques in order to elucidate the methods by which we empathize with others.
Matthew K. Nock, Ph.D. is a Professor of Psychology and Director of the Laboratory for Clinical and Developmental Research in the Department of Psychology at Harvard University. Nock’s research is aimed at advancing the understanding why people behave in ways that are harmful to themselves, with an emphasis on suicide and other forms of self-harm. His research is multi-disciplinary in nature and uses a range of methodological approaches (e.g., epidemiological surveys, laboratory-based experiments, and clinic-based studies) to better understand how these behaviors develop, how to predict them, and how to prevent their occurrence. This work is funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health and several private foundations, and has been published in over 300 peer-reviewed journal articles that have been cited over 60,000 times. Nock’s work has been recognized through the receipt of four early career awards from the American Psychological Association, the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, and the American Association of Suicidology; and in 2011 he was named a MacArthur “Genius” Fellow.
Joyce Christine Nakiwala is a Ugandan dance artiste, choreographer, entrepreneur, and yoga trainer. Since the age of 16 Joyce has been dancing in both traditional and modern genres—deepening her practice through various trainings. In 2020 she joined Healing and Resilience after Trauma (HaRT) where she currently is leading the SHINE programming as HaRT’s senior program manager. In addition to her technical and facilitation skills, Joyce has the exceptional ability to mix voice and movement patterns to inspire connection and healing.
Joyce holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Dance from Makerere University (Uganda), a Diploma in Traditional and Contemporary Dances of Africa from Ecole Des Sable/Janti Bi (Senegal), and has completed various yoga and meditation courses with the Africa Yoga Project Academy (Kenya), the Sunday School Yoga (UK) London and Living Life Limitlessly University (US). She is currently pursuing her masters in Counseling at Makerere University (Uganda).
Ericka Echavarria, LMSW, JD, is an Associate Director of Field Education and Adjunct Faculty at Columbia University School of Social Work. She is dedicated to preparing social work professionals for justice-based practice, emphasizing a lens of power, race, oppression, and privilege. Ericka also incorporates contemplative practices for self-care and self-awareness, social justice advocacy, and ethical professionalism.
Before her role at CSSW, Ericka worked as a mitigation specialist and sentencing advocate, supporting clients in complex legal cases. She also served youth, children, and families in community-based agencies. With a Master’s in Social Work from Columbia University and a Juris Doctorate from Albany Law School, Ericka brings a diverse skill set to her work. As an Afro-Dominican mother and caregiver, she aims to inspire future social workers while leaving a legacy of love, courage, hope, and compassion.
Find out more about her work here.
