Dr. Nii Addy is the Albert E. Kent Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Associate Professor of Cellular and Molecular Physiology and the Director of Faculty Development and Collaborative Excellence at the Yale School of Medicine. He is also Director of the Faculty Mentoring Program for the Minority Organization for Retention and Expansion (MORE) and former co-chair of the Career Development Subcommittee of the ARCH Task Force in the Yale Department of Psychiatry. 

He received his B.S. in Biology from Duke University and his Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Yale University. Dr. Addy directs a federally funded research program investigating cholinergic, dopaminergic and L-type calcium channel mechanisms mediating substance use and mood disorders. Dr. Addy’s team also studies the ability of tobacco product flavor additives to alter nicotine use behavior and addiction. He serves on the journal editorial board of Neuropsychopharmacology, Biological Psychiatry, and Neuropharmacology, and he previously served as a grant reviewer for the Neurobiology of Motivated Behavior (NMB) Study Section of the National Institutes of Health's Center for Scientific Review (CSR). 

In addition to his campus work, Dr. Addy hosts "The Addy Hour" podcast, discussing topics at the intersection of neuroscience, mental health, faith, and culture. 

Listen to a recent episode of the Addy Hour podcast: "Severe Mental Illness in Loved Ones – Navigating Resources, Support & the Care System" 

Dr. Lydia Dugdale, MD, MAR (ethics), is the Dorothy L. and Daniel H. Silberberg Professor of Medicine at the Columbia University Medical Center and Director of the Center for Clinical Medical Ethics. She also serves as Co-Director of Clinical Ethics at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Irving Medical Center.

A practicing internist, Dr. Dugdale moved to Columbia in 2019 from Yale University, where she previously served as Associate Director of the Program for Biomedical Ethics. Her scholarship focuses on end-of-life issues, the role of aesthetics in teaching ethics, moral injury, and the doctor-patient relationship. She edited Dying in the Twenty-First Century (MIT Press, 2015) and is author of The Lost Art of Dying (HarperOne, 2020), a popular press book on the preparation for death. Dr. Dugdale attended medical school at the University of Chicago, completed residency training at Yale-New Haven Hospital, and holds a MAR in ethics from Yale Divinity School.

Read a recent interview with Dr. Dugdale in Christianity Today magazine here.

J.S. Park is a hospital chaplain, published author, and online educator. For nearly eleven years he has been an interfaith chaplain at a 1000+ bed hospital that is designated a Level 1 Trauma Center. His role includes grief support, attending every death, trauma, and Code Blue, and end-of-life care.

J.S. has been interviewed by CNN, NPR, CBS News, Good Morning America, The Today Show, Bay News 9, and FOX13 Tampa Bay, among others, for his work in death and dying. He is the author of As Long as You Need: Permission to Grieve (2024), published by W Publishing of HarperCollins Christian Publishing, and an upcoming book titled We Are Made of Us: Uncovering Our Hidden Family Dynamics, Rewriting Our Stories, and Returning to Ourselves (coming, Oct 2026), published by Tarcher Books of Penguin Random House.

J.S. served for three years as a chaplain at one of the largest nonprofit charities for the homeless on the east coast. He is a board certified chaplain and has a MDiv completed in 2010 and a BA in Psychology. He also has a sixth-degree black belt. J.S. currently lives in Tampa, Florida with his wife, a nurse practitioner, and their daughter and son.

Listen to J.S.'s recent interview for Life Kit on NPR.

Christi Brandenstein is a licensed professional counselor with 30 years of experience in human services and mental health care. She holds an undergraduate degree in Communications with an emphasis in organizational communication and a Master’s in Counseling.

Christi’s clinical practice includes working with children, adolescents, couples, and families, with specialized training in grief, trauma, personality disorders, and EMDR, including attachment-focused EMDR for caregivers and children. She currently serves as the Executive Director of CrossRoads Counseling Centers in St. Louis.

Learn more about Christi's work at CrossRoads and her heart for St. Louis mental healthcare.