Christina Puchalski, MD, MS, FACP, FAAHPM, is an international leader in the movement to integrate spirituality into health care. As founder and director of the George Washington Institute for Spirituality & Health (GWish), Dr. Puchalski's work has been featured in print, on television, and in numerous scholarly journals. She is the author of Time for Listening and Caring: Spirituality and the Care of the Seriously Ill and Dying (Oxford University Press) and co-author with Dr. Betty Ferrell of Making Healthcare Whole (Templeton Press).

Dr. Puchalski is a professor at GW's medical school and is board certified in palliative care and internal medicine. As a Medical Hospice Director in Washington, DC, she directs an interdisciplinary outpatient supportive and palliative clinic.