Pooja Sahni

Pooja Sahni holds a doctorate in contemplative environmental neuroscience from the National Resource Centre for Value Education in Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IITD) India and is a practitioner of surat-shabd-yoga (ultratranscendental meditational technique). Her research interest includes behavioral and neuro-cognitive exploration of contemplative ecological educational techniques as innovative pedagogical tools for prosocial development …

Tawni Tidwell

Tawni Tidwell, PhD, TMD, is a biocultural anthropologist and Tibetan medical doctor. Her research facilitates bridges across the Western scientific tradition and Tibetan medical and contemplative traditions along with their attendant epistemologies and ontologies. She is currently a Research Associate at the Center for Healthy Minds of University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she is Principal Investigator …

Xiaoye Zuo

I’m an MA/PhD student in the Psychological Clinical Science program housed at the University of Toronto Scarborough. I’m interested in understanding the pattern of ruminative thoughts, such as how they emerge and develop over time, and whether mindfulness training affects these patterns. My current MA work involves using machine learning to characterize brain activities during …

Steven Pratscher

Steven Pratscher received his Ph.D. in social-personality psychology from the University of Missouri where he conducted research on interpersonal and relational effects of mindfulness and meditation. He is now a postdoctoral fellow in an integrative and multidisciplinary pain and aging research training program at the University of Florida. He’s interested in examining the effectiveness and …

Tenzin Sonam

Tenzin Sonam is an Assistant research scientist at Emory’s Center for Contemplative Science Compassion-Based Ethics. His research interest is in cross-cultural exploration of key constructs such as, compassion, self-compassion, resiliency, and common humanity included in the Center’s Social, Emotional, and Ethical Learning program, thus, informing its curriculum development and educator trainings to constructively respond to …

Michael Warren

Michael T. Warren, Ph.D., is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Human Early Learning Partnership at the University of British Columbia. His research examines the roles of mindfulness and virtue development in human flourishing from middle childhood through adolescence. Michael is coauthor of Understanding Virtue: Theory and Measurement (Oxford University Press, 2021).

Rebecca Acabchuk

Dr. Rebecca Acabchuk has a PhD in Physiology and Neurobiology, with expertise in brain injury and concussion. She currently works as a Post-Doctoral Research Associate at the University of Connecticut, in the Institute for Collaboration on Health, Intervention, and Policy (InCHIP). Her research focuses on evaluating the mental and physical health benefits of yoga and …

Gio Iacono

Gio Iacono, PhD is an Assistant Professor at the University of Connecticut, School of Social Work. His areas of practice and research specialization are LGBTQ+ youth mental health, mindfulness-based treatment approaches, and promoting diversity/inclusion within education. Dr. Iacono primarily focuses on intervention and community-based research. He has worked as a psychotherapist, educator, community organizer, and …

Grant Jones

Grant Jones (he/him) is a contemplative, musician, researcher, and activist. He is a co-founder of The Black Lotus Collective, a meditation community that centers the healing and liberation of individuals with historically marginalized identities (i.e. Black, Brown, Queer Folks, Folks with Disabilities). He is also a 3rd Year Clinical Psychology PhD candidate at Harvard University. …

Ken Paller

Ken Paller is a Professor at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, where he holds the James Padilla Chair in Arts & Sciences and also serves as Director of the Training Program in the Neuroscience of Human Cognition. He was born and raised in Los Angeles, received degrees from UCLA (BS) and UC San Diego (Neuroscience …