Jan Bays, MD received a BA degree with honors in biology from Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania, and an MD degree from University of California at San Diego. She has taught pediatrics as an assistant professor at UC San Diego and clinical instructor of pediatrics at OHSU. In the late 1980’s she helped found the Child Abuse Response and Assessment Center (CARES NW) at Legacy Children’s Hospital in Portland, Oregon, where she served as medical director for ten years. Dr. Bays has written a number of articles for medical journals and also book chapters on aspects of child abuse. Her latest book, Mindful Eating: Rediscovering a Healthy and Joyful Relationship with Food (Shambhala Publishing, 2009), was inspired by the current epidemic of obesity in America. She currently works part-time for CARES NW as a consultant and lecturer for the Regional Training and Consultation Center in Portland. She lectures on child abuse and mindful eating both in the US and in Japan.
Nancy Bardacke, RN, CNM, MA is a nurse-midwife, mindfulness teacher, and founding director of the Mindfulness-Based Childbirth and Parenting (MBCP) Program which she currently teaches at the UCSF Osher Center for Integrative Medicine. She also leads a Professional Development and Teacher Training Program in MBCP at that same institution. She is an Assistant Clinical Professor in the UCSF School of Nursing. Nancy began assisting birthing families four decades ago and has been a meditation practitioner since 1982. Her professional training in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) with Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD. began in 1994 and she has taught MBSR courses for patients with a wide variety of health challenges. In 1998 Nancy began developing her pioneering Mindfulness-Based Childbirth and Parenting program and has now taught 65 MBCP courses and numerous mindfulness workshops to several thousand expectant parents. Nancy has also taught mindfulness courses and workshops for healthcare professionals both nationally and internationally, Her book, Mindful Birthing: Training the Mind, Body and Heart for Childbirth and Beyond, Foreword by Jon Kabat-Zinn (HarperCollins) is scheduled for publication in 2012.
Michelle Becker, M.A., LMFT is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in private practice in San Diego, CA utilizing mindfulness and compassion based psychotherapy with individuals, couples, families and groups. She is Director of Compassion Programs at the UC San Diego Center for Mindfulness where she also teaches Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction and Mindful Self-Compassion. She is a teacher trainer for Mindful Self-Compassion and co-founder, along with Dr.’s Germer, Neff and Hickman, of the Mindful Self-Compassion Teacher Training. She is also co-founder of the San Diego Center For Well Being and co-developer of the Mindful Living for Couples program. Michelle enjoys helping individuals, couples, families and groups to find a meaningful and satisfying way of life. For more information on Michelle’s work and schedule please visit her website: www.wisecompassion.com.
Sarah Bowen, PhD is currently a research scientist at the Addictive Behaviors Research Center at the University of Washington in Seattle. Both her clinical work and research focus on mindfulness-based interventions for relapse prevention, with a specific focus on mechanisms of change, including negative affect, thought suppression and craving. She has authored several articles and chapters on this and related topics, is a co-author of the Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention for Addictive Behaviors: A Clinician’s Guide, and has served as an investigator several related grants. Dr. Bowen has led several MBRP training’s in the U.S. and Canada, and has facilitated and supervised MBRP groups in both private and county treatment agencies, and at the VA Medical Center in Seattle. She is particularly interested in the application of mindfulness-based work to dual-diagnosis populations.
Tim Burnett has been teaching Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) since 2010, and practicing meditation since 1986. He is certified to teach MBSR by the Center for Mindfulness at the University of Massachusetts Medical School; certified to teach Mindful Self-Compassion by the Center for Mindful Self Compassion; and certified to teach Compassion Cultivation Training by the Center for the Compassion and Altruism Research and Education at Stanford University. In 2011, Tim founded Mindfulness Northwest to offer the benefits of mindfulness meditation and practices to the greater Pacific Northwest and is now offering courses and staff trainings at sites from Seattle to Bellingham. Tim brings a background in traditional Dharma practice to his mindfulness work. He ordained as a Soto Zen priest in 2000 and over the course of a 25-year apprenticeship with the well-known Zen teacher Zoketsu Norman Fischer (author of Training in Compassion among many other books), Tim received permission to teach Zen independently in 2011 and is the Guiding Teacher of Red Cedar Zen Community in Bellingham. Tim also has a varied professional background including work as an educator, carpenter, software developer and scientist. As mindfulness takes the essence of a core Buddhist practice and makes it accessible and non-religious: a powerful coming together of modern psychological and medical understanding with ancient wisdom practices, Tim is happy to have a strong background in both sides of this new (and old) way of healing and growth. Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction and other mindfulness based therapies take their inspiration from the Buddhist Satipatthana Sutta which Tim has studied many times.
Ian Challis is a qualified teacher of MBSR in Palm Springs, California where he teaches MBSR and other mindfulness meditation classes in the community. Inspired by Beth Mulligan’s teaching, it is always a special joy for him to teach alongside her. Ian has maintained a dedicated practice for fifteen years, and studied with many leading teachers including Larry Yang, Sylvia Boorstein, Rodney Smith and Tara Brach. In addition, he completed a multi-year training and was certified in 2017 to teach Insight Meditation by Spirit Rock Meditation Center. After a career in art and product design, he became a founding board member of Insight Community of the Desert, which has grown into a thriving meditation center. He currently serves as the center’s Guiding Teacher offering weekly teachings, workshops, and retreats. Supporting the creation of inclusive and aware communities is a core practice for Ian, along with his own personal development of cultural humility and sensitivity. Identifying as queer, Ian has a passion for supporting those who feel marginalized in dharma and practice communities. He promotes anti-racist work, and teaches residential retreats for queer and gender-fluid folk.
Neha Chawla, PhD is one of the co-creators of MBRP and co-author of the Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention for Addictive Behaviors: A Clinician’s Guide. She is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the Addictive Behaviors Research Center at the University of Washington in Seattle. Her research interests include the development and evaluation of mindfulness-based treatments for substance use disorders, understanding mechanisms of change, issues related to therapist training and dissemination, and the assessment of therapist competence. Neha has facilitated several MBRP groups in private and community treatment settings in Seattle and on the East-coast.
Christopher K. Germer, PhD is a clinical psychologist in the Boston area. He is a Lecturer on Psychiatry, Part-Time, at Harvard Medical School and a founding faculty member of the Institute for Meditation and Psychotherapy. With Kristin Neff, PhD, Dr. Germer developed the Mindful Self-Compassion program. He conducts workshops and lectures internationally on mindfulness and self-compassion, is co-editor of Mindfulness and Psychotherapy and Wisdom and Compassion in Psychotherapy, and author of The Mindful Path to Self-Compassion.
Richard Goerling has served in civilian law enforcement for over twenty years. He also served as a member of the U.S. Coast Guard, both active and reserve for 27 years, retiring at the rank of Commander in 2015. He’s had a front row seat to operational stress in both arenas and has spent the last decade as a student, and now trainer, of resiliency. Over the last decade, he has spearheaded the introduction of mindfulness training into policing in the United States and internationally as part of a larger cultural transformation toward a compassionate, skillful and resilient warrior ethos. He serves as an affiliate faculty at Pacific University’s Graduate School of Professional Psychology and participates in mindfulness research at this institution. Richard regularly trains and presents on resiliency for first responders, bringing practical mindfulness skill building to enhance personal, organizational and community Soma resiliency.
Allan Goldstein, Certified MBSR Teacher, providing MBSR Teacher Training, and MBSR Mentorship is a Senior Advisor on the Leadership Team of the UC San Diego Center for Mindfulness. Allan’s passion for supporting Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Teachers through MBSR Training and MBSR Mentorship began in 1993 when he first participated in an MBSR program. Continuing to explore the foundations of MBSR and mindfulness led Allan to training programs offered by the UMass Center for Mindfulness. He established MBSR Programs of Hawaii where he joyfully lived and taught for 14 years. He Joined Dr. Steven Hickman, UC San Diego CFM Founding Director, in 2011 and was a leader in the development of the UCSD CFM Mindfulness-Based Professional Training Institute and MBSR Certification programs. Allan has taught MBSR extensively to groups and individuals in health care, university, Veterans Health Administration, and community settings. Allan’s strong passion, for the valuable teachings found within MBSR, continues through his teaching, professional MBSR Teacher Training programs and practicum intensives which along with mentoring current and future MBSR teachers is now Allan’s dedicated focus of work in the health-care field of mindfulness programs. Website
: mbsrmentorship.com
Andrea Grabovac, MD, FRCP(C), is a Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the University of British Columbia. Her psychiatric practice focuses on inpatient psychiatry at Vancouver Hospital and outpatient psycho-oncology at the BC Cancer Agency. Beginning in 2006, she has been facilitating both group and individual mindfulness-based interventions for various clinical populations, including mood disorders, sexual medicine and oncology. In collaboration with Dr. Mark Lau, she developed and continues to facilitate a monthly Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy consultation course for MBCT clinicians since 2009. In addition, she supervises psychiatry residents and other mental health clinicians in the provision of MBCT and is an Associate Teacher at 5-day MBCT teacher trainings. Her academic publications explore the clinical relevance of re-contextualizing mindfulness based interventions within Buddhist psychological frameworks. She has a particular interest in the clinical relevance of the progressive development of meditative skills as described in the Theravadan stages of insight. Andrea is a co-investigator on two funded trials investigating MBCT adapted for women, and has co-authored MBCT treatment manuals for treatment of provoked vestibulodynia and low sexual desire in women. She is also an Associate Editor for the journal Mindfulness. She has practiced and studied in the Burmese Theravada Vipassana tradition since 2002. Andrea lives in Vancouver, Canada with her husband and their three children.
Joel Grow, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist at the Seattle Mindfulness Center and lead trainer of Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention (MBRP). His research interests include clinical applications of mindfulness meditation, primarily in the areas of anxiety, trauma, and addictive behaviors. He has extensive experience teaching in the university setting, and was awarded the University of Washington “Award for Teaching Excellence.” He co-facilitates MBRP groups in both private and community treatment settings.
Steven Hickman, PsyD is a clinical psychologist and retired Associate Clinical Professor in the UC San Diego Departments of Family Medicine & Public Health and Psychiatry. He is the Founding Director of the UC San Diego Center for Mindfulness and the Executive Director of the non-profit Center for Mindful Self-Compassion. Dr. Hickman teaches Mindful Self-Compassion around the world and trains teachers of that program and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, in addition to speaking and teaching on the topic of teaching mindfulness-based programs. Steve is particularly interested in supporting men in developing greater self-compassion and mindfulness and is involved in projects to develop these capacities in Olympic-class athletes, first-responders and active duty military.
Lorraine M. Hobbs, M.A., Chom is the Founding Director of the Youth and Family Programs at the University of California San Diego Center for Mindfulness. During her tenure at the Center, she has developed and implemented curricula in mindfulness for multiple age groups and a course in Mindful & Compassionate Parenting. As a family therapist and former clinical director of adolescent treatment programs, her concern for the adverse effects of stress on the social and emotional development of teens led to pioneering work in the area of self-compassion for teens. She is co-author of Making Friends with Yourself: A Mindful Self-Compassion Program for Teens & Young Adults, adapted from the adult Mindful Self-Compassion Program and endorsed by Kristen Neff, Ph.D. & Chris Germer, Ph.D. She is certified to teach MBSR (Mindfulness Based-Stress Reduction), MSC (Mindful Self-Compassion), and CCARE (Compassion Cultivation, Altruism, Research & Education), a year-long training program created by clinical psychologists and contemplative scholars at Stanford University. Lorraine is co-director of the Mindfulness for Adolescents Certification Program. She also consults with educators on integrating mindfulness and compassion-based programs in schools and offers workshops & public talks in the community.
Pete Kirchmer is a Life Coach, Mindful Movement Instructor and Meditation Teacher in Encinitas, CA. Pete is the mPEAK Program Director and a lead teacher in the mPEAK program. As the founder of Mindfulness Based Health, he specializes in helping his clients apply the practice of mindfulness to making healthy lifestyle changes as well as improving performance in both work and life. Pete has completed the foundational training as a Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) Teacher through the University of Massachusetts Oasis Institute, holds a BS in Exercise Physiology, and is a Certified Professional Life Coach through the Coaches Training institute, Center for Applied Positive Psychology and Wellcoaches. Pete is also a Master Trainer for efi Sports Medicine and certified STOTT Pilates Instructor. He is a lifetime learner and an active member of the International Coach Federation and the Harvard Institute of Coaching. Currently Pete has a private coaching practice in Encinitas, is a regular presenter at Rancho La Puerta, a world-class wellness resort in Tecate, Mexico and is on the board of directors for the Encinitas Mindfulness Community.
Ni-Cheng Liang, MD is a pulmonologist who is the Director of Pulmonary Integrative Medicine at Coastal Pulmonary Associates affiliated with the Scripps Health Network. She also serves as a Voluntary Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine while volunteering for the UCSD Student-Run Free Clinic for underserved patients. She is passionate about promoting healthcare professional wellness and has developed curricula while teaching mindfulness to patients, healthcare administrators, professionals and their students. She was the UCSD Center for Mindfulness Executive Director between 2017-2018. She has given local, regional, and national experiential presentations on physician wellness, mindfulness and integrative therapies since 2012, and most recently for the 2019 American Thoracic Society International Conference. She has taught Mindfulness in Medicine, a medical student elective course since 2013 and has been its Course Director from 2014-2017. She has also developed mindfulness- based wellness curricula for the UCSD Internal Medicine Residency Program as well as a mindfulness-based Mobile Wellness for Healthcare Professionals program of free guided meditations made possible by receiving the UCSD Academy of Clinician Scholars Kaiser Teaching Award two times. She is the 2019 American Lung Association San Diego Lung Health Provider of the Year and was one of the inaugural Outstanding Mothers Awards recipients.
Marta Alonso Maynar, DClin Psy. is a psychologist and specialist in clinical psychology with the Ministry of Education and Science in Spain. She is the first Certified Teacher and Teacher Trainer in Spanish language and a pioneer in introducing compassion programs in Spain. Since 2012 Marta has delivered more than 26 MSC courses in her country. She has practiced meditation for the last 27 years. She is a founding member and the current President of AEMind (Asociación Española de Mindfulness y Compasión) www.aemind.es. She holds the recognition as European Expert in Psychotherapy by the EFPA. Marta is co-author, along with Vicente Simon and others, of the book “Mindfulness en la Práctica Clinica” and both created the triple CD with a booklet with 209 minutes of Mindfulness and Self Compassion audios and practices in Spanish with a booklet available on Amazon.
Pittman McGehee, Ph.D. is a licensed psychologist in private practice in Austin, Texas. He re-ceived his doctorate from The University of Texas, Austin, focusing his research on the connec-tion between psychological health and the concepts of mindfulness and self-compassion. During his doctoral studies, Dr. McGehee worked closely with Dr. Kristin Neff, one of the world’s leading experts on self-compassion. Prior to working in private practice, Dr. McGehee worked and trained at the Austin Psychology and Assessment Center, the Capital Area Mental Health Center, the Travis County Correctional Complex, as well as the University of Texas Counseling and Mental Health Center. In addition, Dr. McGehee is a certified Mindful Self-Compassion teacher and teacher-trainer, through the University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine. He is cur-rently adjunct faculty at Seton Cove Spirituality Center, Austin, Texas, and has held faculty ap-pointments in both the Department of Psychology and The Department Educational Psychology at the University of Texas, Austin. In 2017 Dr. McGehee co-wrote a chapter on Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC), with Dr. Kristin Neff and Dr. Chris Germer, the creators of MSC, in the book, Practitioner’s Guide to Ethics and Mindfulness-Based Interventions.
Trish Magyari, M.S., LCPC, NCC, RYT-200, is a licensed clinical professional counselor, experienced mindfulness-based psychotherapist, a certified teacher and trainer of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) as well a Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) and Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) teacher specializing in trauma-informed approaches. She developed the curriculum for and has been the interventionist on published MBSR research studies for people with complex PTSD stemming from childhood sexual abuse; for multiply traumatized urban youth; for women dealing with intimate partner violence; and in several studies for people with chronic pain conditions. Her trauma-informed MBSR curriculum is widely used in VA hospitals, by the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and organizations serving victims of trauma and torture. She is on the faculty of the University of San Diego Mindfulness-Based Professional Training Institute as an MBSR mentor; has led numerous workshops for mental health professionals on mindfulness and trauma; and is a teacher with the Insight Meditation Community of Washington (IMCW). Trish is the author of two professional book chapters: “Teaching mindfulness to women with complex trauma” in Mindfulness-Oriented Interventions for Trauma: Integrating Contemplative Practices (Follette and Briere, Eds., Jan 2015) and “Trauma-Informed Mindfulness” in the upcoming Resources for MBI Teachers (D. McCown and D. Reibel, Eds).
Beth Mulligan, PA-C is a certified MBSR teacher and teacher trainer, and adjunct faculty for the UMASS Center for Mindfulness. She has been teaching MBSR for fifteen years at medical centers, universities and to diverse populations; from the critically ill, to non-profit organizations, the underserved, educators, and corporate leaders. She is also a certified MSC Teacher and teacher trainer. Beth has a background in primary care medicine as a Board Certified Physician Assistant and has practiced medicine for over 25 years. She is a senior Zen student of Roshi Charles Tenshin Fletcher at Yokoji Zen Mountain Center where she has lived in residence, and is the Guiding Dharma teacher at Insight Community of the Desert.
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Kristin D. Neff, PhD is Associate Professor in Human Development and Culture at the University of Texas at Austin. She was one of the first scholars to define and measure self-compassion in an academic context, has written numerous research articles on the psychological benefits of self-compassion. Dr. Neff is the author of Self-Compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself. She is featured in the award-winning book and documentary The Horse Boy, which chronicles her family’s adventure with autism.
Megan Prager is the Compassion Programs Director at UC San Diego Center for Mindfulness and Co-Founder of Mindful Labs. Megan is a Certified Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Instructor (MBSR), a Certified Mindful Self-Compassion Instructor (MSC), a Certified Compassion Cultivation Instructor (CCT), an Adjunct Faculty member at San Diego State University, and a Lecturer at UC San Diego Rady Business School. She is also a Teacher Trainer and Mentor for the UC San Diego Mindfulness Based Professional Training Institute and for the Center for Mindful Self-Compassion. In addition to teaching Mindfulness-based programs, Megan specializes in developing and delivering mindfulness and compassion trainings for Fortune 500 companies as well as for educational, healthcare, and academic settings. She is currently collaborating with Universities to establish and instruct Mindfulness and Compassion courses at the collegiate level. In all her ventures, Megan’s passion and mission are the same: to empower individuals with an understanding of the important role they play in shaping their lives and well being. Megan believes through compassionate awareness individuals are able to utilize one of the best resources they have: themselves.
Contact Megan Prager: meganprager@gmail.com
Website: www.mindfullabs.com
David Spound, M.Ed., is the Director of Valley Mindfulness in Northampton, Massachusetts, a company he founded in 2006. He teaches Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC), and other in-person and online programs based on these two groundbreaking courses. He also creates specialized programs for individuals and organizations, and he leads silent meditation retreats. David trained, and was certified, as a teacher of MBSR by the Center for Mindfulness at UMass Medical School, the organization founded by Jon Kabat-Zinn. David worked at the UMass Center for Mindfulness from 2006–2013 where he served as a member of the MBSR teaching staff and coordinated the MBSR teacher training and certification program.
David trained, and was certified, as a teacher of Mindful Self-Compassion by the UCSD Center for Mindfulness. Besides teaching MSC, he works on new projects and courses on behalf of the Center for Mindful Self-Compassion, the organization founded by Kristin Neff and Christopher Germer.
For David, his work as a teacher and mentor is a true labor of love. He looks forward to each unique and special opportunity to serve as a mentor for others who feel called to this work. Please feel free to be in touch with David if you have any questions about working with him.
Website: www.valleymindfulness.com
Anne Twohig lives in Ireland in the beautiful seaside town of Greystones, where she enjoys long walks by the sea and hiking in the hills of County Wicklow. She is a certified MBSR teacher and teacher trainer. She is the founder of the Centre for Mindfulness Ireland, which she established in 2007. Anne trained with the University of Massachusetts Medical School Center for Mindfulness (UMass CFM), and has been a member of their professional teaching faculty since 2014. During her years as a teacher trainer with UMass CFM, Anne has been the host for professional teacher trainings in Ireland as well as teaching with CFM in Ireland, Europe and in the US. Anne has extensive experience teaching mindfulness across a range of areas, including healthcare, education, non-profit organisations, prison services, and the corporate and banking sectors. She was the recipient of a Social Entrepreneurs Ireland award for her work in Mindfulness in Education.
Anne is passionate about offering support and guidance to the community of qualified MBSR teachers in Ireland and around the world. She is committed to encouraging ongoing teacher development in the form of mentoring, supervision and continued education. She is excited to be on the teaching faculty at the UCSD Center for Mindfulness and looks forward to being part of their professional teacher trainings in Europe.
Website: https://www.cfmi.ie/
Carolyn West, Ph.D. is a graduate of Northeastern University in Boston and has held faculty positions at American International College and Western New England University, both in Springfield, Massachusetts. A unifying thread of her rich and lengthy people-centered career has been the integration of her work in the areas of psychology and clinical practice, particularly with children and women, with her decades long mindfulness study and practice. Mindfulness has been central to her work across populations – with children and their families, as well as teachers, college students, and patients participating in cardiac rehabilitation. From 2005 through 2018, she was part of the teaching faculty at the Center for Mindfulness in Worcester, Massachusetts where she offered courses in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction and, as a senior instructor, provided encouragement, mentoring and training to teachers across the world.
Grateful for her own teachers and experience, Carolyn views the mentoring relationship as one of remarkable intimacy, with encouragement and support provided in the context of a shared exploration of the landscape of teaching mindfulness. Her most influential mindfulness teachers continue to be her children and grandchildren.
Char Wilkins, MSW, LCSW is a mindfulness-based psychotherapist trained to teach Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), and Mindful Eating-Conscious Living™ (ME-CL) programs. She has been awarded teacher certification in MBSR by the Center for Mindfulness, UMass Medical School, Worcester, MA.
As a therapist, Char specialized in working with women who experienced childhood abuse/trauma and struggled with depression, anxiety and disordered eating. As a senior trainer for UCSD’s Mindfulness Based Professional Training Institute, she is a lead facilitator for Mindful Eating-Conscious Living™ Levels 1 & 2 trainings, and mentors teachers-in-training. Additionally, she serves as an advisor to The Center for Mindful Eating. Char travels internationally to train professionals in the ME-CL protocol which she created and teaches with her colleague, Jan Chozen Bays, MD. Never without her sense of humor and a few mindless moments, she always enjoys sharing and learning from others around the world.
Website: www.me-cl.com
Fadel Zeidan, Ph.D. is the Associate Director for Research at the UCSD Center for Mindfulness and Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology at UCSD. He and his laboratory have discovered the neural processes supporting mindfulness meditation and mindfulness-based pain relief. Recently, he and his team have demonstrated that mindfulness meditation is mechanistically distinct from and more effective than placebo, distraction, and relaxation. His research is currently funded by the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health and has disseminated his findings through traditional media outreach (CNN ; NPR ; Time Magazine , CBS and others), Tedx and recently personally presented his work to His Holiness, the Dalai Lama in Mongolia. In his new role at the UCSD Center for Mindfulness, Fadel will focus on expanding his research to focus on working with different patient populations and user-friendly approaches to promote the self regulation of pain. Fadel is especially excited at examining ways to integrate mindfulness from the lab to the clinic and community.
Website: https://www.zeidanlab.com/
Douglas Ziedonis, MD, MPH
Douglas Ziedonis, MD, MPH, serves as associate vice chancellor (AVC) for health sciences at UC San Diego and is a tenured professor in the Department of Psychiatry. As AVC, he has broad responsibilities in all mission areas, including strategic planning coordination, serving on the UC San Diego Health Executive Governing Board, and providing leadership, coordination, and evaluation to all professional schools, departments and divisions throughout Health Sciences, which includes the School of Medicine and Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
His roles include overseeing Academic Affairs, Faculty Affairs, Health Sciences International, Human Resources, Compliance, the cross-campus Institute of Public Health and leading the development of a new School of Public Health proposal. He has an oversight role for Health Sciences Education of coordinating education between medical, pharmacy, and public health studies with an emphasis on inter-professional education and has overseen Medical Education (undergraduate, graduate, and continuing medical education). This work includes spearheading initiatives on equity, diversity, and inclusion as well as promoting wellness and engagement.
A distinguished physician-scientist and leader in the field of addictive disorders research, he was recruited to UC San Diego in 2017. For 10 years prior he was chair of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and president of UMass Memorial Behavioral Health Services. Under his leadership, his department became one of the largest in the country, with over 375 faculty supported by 2,000 staff, and substantial growth in research, clinical services, and education.
Dr. Ziedonis is internationally recognized for his research in co-occurring mental illness and addiction, especially tobacco addiction and recovery-oriented interventions. His research has been continuously funded for more than 25 years and received over 110 grants (28 as principal investigator), resulting in over 300 publications and scholarly works. He serves on multiple editorial boards, including The Scientific World Journal and the Shanghai Archives of Psychiatry. He is active in global initiatives, including current research in the UK, China, Latvia, Italy and Denmark.