Susan Bauer-Wu, PhD, RN , integrates her scientific research in mind-body medicine and clinical experience as an oncology, psychiatric, and hospice nurse to improve the well-being of those living with serious illness and their loved ones. She is associate professor at Emory University in Atlanta, GA, and lives in Atlanta, GA, and Brookline, MA. Foreword writer Joan Halifax, PhD , is a medical anthropologist, Buddhist teacher, and author of Being with Dying and other books. She is founder, abbot, and head teacher at Upaya Zen Center, a Buddhist monastery in Santa Fe, NM, and director of the Upaya Institute. 'Susan Bauer-Wu, PhD, RN' , is a researcher, lecturer, and retreat facilitator. From 2001 to 2007, she was an instructor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and research center director at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, MA, where she led research efforts aimed to improve the quality of life and quality of care for cancer patients. In 2007, she was selected for an esteemed five-year award, Distinguished Cancer Scholar of the Georgia Cancer Coalition, and has since served as a tenured faculty member atEmory University in Atlanta, GA. She has had a productive program of research funded by the National Institutes of Health and prominent foundations.

Her research focuses on the effects of chronic stress and the benefits of mindfulness and compassion practices in the face of debilitation and potentially life-limiting illness. She has been a faculty member for the University of Massachusetts Medical School's Center for Mindfulness training programs and the Upaya Zen Center's educational programs. She also facilitates healing and resiliency retreats and workshops and meditation training programs for health care professionals and people with serious illnesses and their families. Joan Halifax, Ph.D., is a Buddhist teacher, Zen priest, anthropologist, and author. She is Founder, Abbot, and Head Teacher of Upaya Zen Center, a Buddhist monastery in Santa Fe, New Mexico and Director of the Upaya Institute. She received her Ph.

D in medical anthropology in 1973. Her work for forty years has focused on engaged and applied Buddhism, with an emphasis on end-of-life care and programs for prisoners and the environment. She has served as visiting faculty and lectured on the subject of death and dying at many academic institutions throughout the United States and abroad. She is a Board Member and Fellow of the Mind and Life Institute. The author of many books, including Being with Dying: Cultivating Compassion and Fearlessness in the Presence of Death , Dr. Halifax founded the Project on Being with Dying.