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 at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center for over 20 years. For the past 10 years, Dr Pessin has overseen 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. She is currently a volunteer faculty member at New York Presbyterian Hospital.