William Breitbart, M.D. is the Jimmie C. Holland Chair in Psychiatric Oncology, Attending Psychiatrist, Psychiatry Service, and Immediate Past Chairman (10/2014-8/2025) of the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY. He is recipient of the International Psycho-Oncology Society’s (IPOS) 2009 Sutherland Lifetime Achievement Award and 2019 Jimmie Holland Award for lifetime contributions to psychiatric oncology; the Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine’s 2011 Hackett Lifetime Achievement Award; the American Psychosocial Oncology Society’s (APOS) 2013 Distinguished Leadership Award; the American Cancer Society’s 2017 Trish Greene Quality of Life Award; the 2019 International Psycho-Oncology Society’s 2019 Jimmie Holland Award for lifetime contributions to psychiatric oncology; and the 2023 Lifetime Achievement Award for Outstanding Contributions to Palliative Care from the MD Anderson Cancer Center. Dr. Breitbart also served as President Emeritus of IPOS. Dr. Breitbart's research efforts focus on psychiatric aspects of cancer and palliative care. His most recent efforts focus on Meaning-Centered Psychotherapy for cancer patients, an “NCI designated Research Tested Intervention” for end of life despair. He has had continuous NIH RO1 funding of investigator initiated research since 1989. Dr. Breitbart was PI of the “Network Project, NCI R25 grant (1992-98) which trained clinicians in cancer pain management and psycho-oncology. He is currently PI of R25 CA190169 which is training a national cohort of cancer care clinicians in Meaning Centered Psychotherapy. He has over 500 peer review publications, chapters and review papers, and 13 textbooks including: Psycho-oncology - 1st , 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Editions; Psychosocial Palliative Care; Handbook of Psychiatry in Palliative Medicine – 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Editions; and the treatment manuals for Meaning-Centered Group Psychotherapy in Advanced Cancer Patients; and Individual Meaning-Centered Psychotherapy for Advanced Cancer Patients; and Meaning-Centered Psychotherapy in the Cancer Setting from Oxford University Press. Dr. Breitbart is Editor-in-Chief, of Cambridge University Press’ international palliative care journal entitled, “Palliative & Supportive Care”.

Dr. Hayley Pessin is a licensed Psychologist, who has been conducting ongoing research and training in the development and dissemination of psychological interventions for medically ill patients for over 20 years at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Dr Pessin currently oversees the NCI grant funded Meaning-Centered Psychotherapy Training Program (MCPT), which teaches clinicians, who provide psychosocial care to cancer patients, to address existential distress. In addition, she has served as interventionist and supervisor on randomized controlled trials and has extensive clinical experience in Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT), Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), and Meaning Centered Psychotherapy (MCP) for cancer patients. She is well published in the areas of the emotional impact of illness in advanced cancer patients and end-of-life issues. She also has a private practice in Manhattan where she specializes in providing evidenced based solution focused therapy to patients with medical illnesses and psychological distress. As a Co-Founder of PsyOnc Partners, LLC, an organization focused on training the workforce of psychosocial oncology professionals, she is committed to delivering training in evidence-based psycho-oncology. Dr Pessin received her doctorate in Clinical Psychology from Fordham University, completed her clinical internship at Long Island Jewish Medical Center-Hillside Hospital, and completed her training in an NCI-funded pre-doctoral research fellowship at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

Dr. Allison Applebaum is a caregiving scientist, writer, researcher, speaker, and advocate. She is a Professor of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine and the Director of the Steven S. Elbaum Family Center for Caregiving at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. She was previously the Founding Director of the Caregivers Clinic at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, the first program of its kind in the United States to provide comprehensive psychosocial care to family members and friends of patients who are in the caregiving role. Dr. Applebaum’s program of research focuses on the development and dissemination of supportive services for family caregivers. She has published over 100 articles, reviews, and book chapters on these topics, and is the editor of the textbook Cancer Caregivers (Oxford University Press, 2019). Dr. Applebaum has received competitive funding for her research, including awards from the National Cancer Institute, the National Institute of Nursing Research, and the American Cancer Society. She is also the author of the recently published narrative nonfiction book, Stand By Me: A Guide to Navigating Modern, Meaningful Caregiving (Simon Element, 2024). As a Co-Founder of PsyOnc Partners, LLC, an organization focused on training the workforce of psychosocial oncology professionals, she is committed to delivering training in evidence-based psycho-oncology.

Wendy G. Lichtenthal, PhD, FT, FAPOS is Director of the Center for the Advancement of Bereavement Care at the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center and Professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. She is a licensed clinical psychologist and has worked as a grief specialist for over 20 years. In 2005, she began her career at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) in New York City, where she was Founding Director of the Bereavement Clinic and Associate Attending Psychologist, and where she now serves as Consultant Faculty. She was a recipient of the 2012 International Psycho-Oncology Society Kawano New Investigator Award, the 2019 Association for Death Education and Counseling Research Recognition Award, and the 2023 American Psychosocial Oncology Society Outstanding Clinical Care Award. She is a Fellow in Thanatology and was elected a Fellow of the American Psychosocial Oncology Society in 2024. Her federally-funded research has been supported by the National Institutes of Health and numerous foundations and focuses on grief and bereavement, cancer survivorship, intervention development and evaluation, and finding meaning in the face of adversity. She is an inventor of the Meaning-Centered Grief Therapy and EMPOWER intervention manuals used in her research. She offers services in speaking, consulting, and psychotherapy through Light in the Valley LLC. As a Co-Founder of PsyOnc Partners, LLC, an organization focused on training the workforce of psychosocial oncology professionals, she is committed to delivering training in evidence-based psycho-oncology.