Who We Are

Leadership and Staff
Michael Skaggs, PhD

Michael Skaggs, PhD

Co-Founder and Director of Chaplaincy Innovation Programs

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Grace Last

Associate Director for Operations, Administration and Budget

Yi He

Assistant to Director of Chaplaincy Innovation Programs

Amy Lawton, PhD

Research Manager

Wendy Cadge, PhD

Wendy Cadge, PhD

Lab Founder
President, Bryn Mawr College

Consultants and Advisors
Aja Antoine, sociologist of chaplains of color, PhD student at Berkeley

Aja Antoine

University of California at Berkeley 2020 PhD cohort

DAHL

Steve Dahl

Marketing Consultant

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Jessica Hamar Martínez

Research Consultant

Trace Haythorn, PhD

Lab Co-Founder
Haythorn Coaching and Consulting, LLC

Kristen Lucken, PhD

Special Advisor

Helen McNeal

Helen McNeal

Senior Advisor

Su Yon Pak, EdD

Senior Advisor

Shelly Rambo

Shelly Rambo, PhD

Senior Advisor

Kelsey White, PhD

Research Consultant

Research Assistants and Associates

Samaria Dellorso

Brandeis University '24

Hannah Petersen

Brandeis University

Alaina Vermilya

Brandeis University '24

Lab Alums

Jennifer Cañas Alegria

Brandeis - Heller School '23

Philip Bonmassar

Brandeis University '22

Helena Buckman

College of William & Mary '23

Alison Cantor

Brandeis University '22

Olivia Combs

Brandeis University '22

Lily deLaRue

Clemson University '23

Jiaying Ding

Harvard Divinity (MDiv) '18

Juliane Ding

Swarthmore College '22

Savannah Jackson

Brandeis University '22

Shaunesse' Jacobs Plaisimond

Boston University
PhD '23

Nan Jiang

Business Analytics
Brandeis University

Ben Katcher

Brandeis University '20

Sophia Koolpe

Brandeis University '24

Mariah Lewis

Brandeis University '22

Lijun Lin

Brandeis University
PhD Candidate, Sociology

Markia Neufville

Brandeis University '22

Rachel Payne

Boston University (MDiv) '21

Zoë Pringle

Brandeis University '22

Teresa Shi

Brandeis University '23

Weijian Shi

Brandeis University '22

Simona Shuman

Brandeis University '22

Grace Tien

Princeton University (PhD) '20

Sophie Trachtenberg

Brandeis University '21

Elena van Stee

University of Pennsylvania
2019 PhD cohort

Advisory Group

The Chaplaincy Innovation Lab Advisory Group is a gathering of individuals who offer general guidance to the Lab at the invitation of the Lab’s senior leadership. The Advisory Group meets quarterly to consult on the Lab’s activities, provide constructive criticism, and brainstorm about developments in chaplaincy and how the Lab can most effectively address them. They also help the Lab partner with and support chaplains in a range of settings. Advisory Group members serve for three-year terms.

Tahara Akmal – Manager of Clinical Pastoral Education and Chaplain, MedStar Washington Hospital Center, Washington, D.C.

Claire Chuck Bohman – Director, Sojourn Chaplaincy at San Francisco General Hospital

Rev. Dr. Rita Brock – Senior VP for Moral Injury Programs, Volunteers of America

Ali R. Candir, BCC – Founder & President, Wellspring Chaplaincy Initiative

Mark Chaves – Professor of Sociology, Religious Studies, and Divinity, Duke University

Erica Cohen Moore – Executive Director, National Association of Catholic Chaplains

Betty Ferrell – Director and Professor, Division of Nursing Research and Education, Department of Population Sciences, City of Hope National Medical Center

Phil Gallagher – Director, Human Resources, Morgan Stanley

Kathy Gallivan, SNDdeN

Linda Golding – Chaplain, New York Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center; Coordinator of Pastoral Services, Milstein Hospital

Sarah Jobe – Chaplain, Interfaith Prison Ministry for Women

Dan Judson – Dean of Graduate Leadership Programs, Hebrew College

Larry Kanarek – Private consultant; Director, McKinsey & Company

Rear Adm. Margaret Kibben (Ret.) – 26th Chief of Chaplains, United States Navy; Chaplain, United States House of Representatives

Heidi Kugler – Chaplaincy Administrator, Federal Bureau of Prisons

CAPT, CHC Jack Lea (RET) – Executive Director, National Conference on Ministry to the Armed Forces

Dennis LoRusso – Instructor of Religious Studies, University of North Florida

Kristen Lucken – Chair, Religious Studies, Brandeis University

Janet R. McCormack – Director of Chaplaincy and Pastoral Counseling, Denver Seminary

Helen B. McNeal – Principal, McNeal Rector

Zachary Moon – Associate Professor of Theology and Psychology, Chicago Theological Seminary

Jason Nieuwsma – Associate Professor, Duke University Medical Center; Adjoint Associate Professor, Vanderbilt Divinity School

Ronald Oliver – System Vice President, Mission and Outreach, Norton Healthcare

Sara Paasche-Orlow – Executive Director, Hillel, Northeastern University

Su Yon Pak – Vice President of Academic Affairs and Dean, Union Theological Seminary

Christina Puchalski – Professor of Medicine and Health Science, George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences; Director, GWU Institute for Spirituality and Health; Co-Director, MFA-GWU Supportive and Palliative Outpatient Clinic

Shelly Rambo – Associate Professor of Theology, Boston University

Alan Rozen, MD HMDC FAAHPM – Chief Medical Officer, Platinum Palliative Care

CAPT, CHC Lyman Smith (RET) – Director, Presbyterian Federal Chaplaincy

John Schmalzbauer – Blanche Gorman Strong Chair in Protestant Studies, Missouri State University

Asha Shipman – Director of Hindu Life and Hindu Chaplain, Yale University

Rev. Dr. J. Eric Skidmore – South Carolina Law Enforcement Assistance Program

Rabbi Mychal B. Springer – Manager of Clinical Pastoral Education, NY-Presbyterian Hospital

Tiffany Steinwert – Dean for Religious Life, Stanford University

Csaba Szilagyi – Director of Research, Rush University Religion, Health and Human Values

Lauren A. Taylor – Affiliated Faculty, NYU Wagner; Assistant Professor, NYU Langone School of Medicine

Rev. Mary Martha Thiel – Director of CPE, Hebrew SeniorLife

Rev. Dr. Lori Whittemore – Founder and Executive Director, Spiritual Care Services of Maine

Rabbi Nancy Wiener – Founding Director of the Jacob and Hilda Blaustein Center for Pastoral Counseling and Fieldwork Coordinator, Hebrew Union College

Frank Yamada – Executive Director, Association of Theological Schools

Jason Zuidema – Executive Director, North American Maritime Ministry Association