Catherine Rogers, MFA, MS is Associate Director and Lecturer in the Program in Narrative Medicine at Columbia University, New York (USA) and co-director, with Rita Charon, of Narrative Medicine International. A playwright, actor, and narrative medicine specialist, her work bridges performance, education, and health care, with particular emphasis on creative writing as a means of developing cognitive, linguistic, and clinical competence. At Columbia, she teaches in the MS in Narrative Medicine at the School of Professional Studies and holds annual faculty appointments with the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, where she leads the narrative medicine elective in playwriting, and with the Robert Wood Johnson SHPEP Program at Irving Medical Center. In addition, she teaches Foundations of Narrative Medicine: Creative Inquiry in Bioethics at the Center for Bioethics at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, and facilitates monthly narrative medicine seminars for clinicians at the Brookdale Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine and the Division of General Internal Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York. Past positions include Director of the Southeast Texas Arts Council, Program Officer at Texas Commission on the Arts, and Assistant Professor Humanities at NYU. Her national and international academic engagements include Fulbright Specialist residencies at Aristotle University Thessaloniki School of English (2013) and the Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Malaya (2024). She has presented invited lectures, workshops, and seminars at Georgetown University School of Medicine, the Arnold P. Gold Foundation, Pace University, Chestnut Hill College, York Hospital (PA), Salem Hospital (OR), Université Bordeaux Montaigne, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, among many others. Rogers’ scholarly and creative publications appear in TDR/The Drama Review, Voices Made Flesh (University of Wisconsin Press), Our Changing Journey . . . Reshaping Death (Prager), Gettysburg Review, and other academic and literary venues. A James A. Michener Fellow in playwriting, her plays have been produced at 29th Street Playwrights Collective (NYC and Athens), Cleveland Public Theatre, Dixon Place, Women's Project, HERE Arts Center, and many other professional theaters and academic venues. She is a member of SAG-AFTRA and the Dramatists Guild of America.

The Specialist residency at the University of Ioannina School of Medicine will be the first narrative medicine program in Greece initiated by a medical school, building on developments that began with the 2013 Specialist residency at the School of English, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. At Ioannina School of Medicine, the Specialist will teach a three-week course in the interdisciplinary practice of narrative medicine for a mixed cohort of arts, humanities, and medical students, facilitate a workshop for an interprofessional group of arts, humanities, and healthcare professionals, and deliver a public academic lecture, livestreamed globally, on the evolution of narrative medicine in the United States—from its inception at Columbia University in 2000 to its current worldwide presence.

Dr. Krishna Bista is a Professor of Higher Education in the Department of Advanced Studies, Leadership and Policy at Morgan State University, Maryland (USA). He is an award-winning author and editor, internationally recognized for his scholarship on technology in teaching, global student mobility, leadership in higher education, educational statistics, and mixed methods research. Dr. Bista teaches doctoral courses and supervises dissertations on international education, technology, and college access. At Morgan State University, he has led initiatives such as the Teach Online Workshop and the Faculty Summer Writing Institute, and chaired committees on research and publication, international affairs, and technology. He has published over 150 scholarly works—including journal articles, essays, and book chapters—and edited more than three dozen books and journal volumes. Dr. Bista is the Founding Series Editor of the Routledge Global Student Mobility Book Series, and the Founding Chair of the Study Abroad and International Students at the Comparative and International Education Society. Currently, he serves as the Senior Executive Vice President of the STAR Scholars Network (Maryland, USA). Previously, he served as Director of Global Education and Chase Endowed Professor of Education at the University of Louisiana at Monroe. His recent books include, Advancing Global Competencies in Education: Theory and Practice (w/Ourania Katsara, Routledge, 2025), Global Pathways: Insights on Studying, Working, Thriving Abroad (AAC&U & STAR Scholars, 2025), ChatGPT and Global Higher Education: Using Artificial Intelligence in Teaching and Learning (STAR Scholars, 2024), and Reimagining Internationalization and International Initiatives at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (Palgrave MacMillan, 2022) Dr. Bista serves on editorial boards for Teachers College Record, Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies, International Journal of Leadership in Education, and Kappa Delta Pi Record, and regularly reviews book projects for Oxford University Press, Springer, Routledge, Sage, Palgrave MacMillan, and Bloomsbury.

During his time at the University of Patras (Agrinio Campus), Dr. Bista offered a series of lectures on advancing research, writing, and publication. Discussions centered on how Artificial Intelligence and emerging technologies can enhance research productivity and academic impact.

Dr. Meg Warren is a researcher, author, keynote speaker, and senior advisor working at the intersection of allyship and well-being. A social-organizational psychologist, she employs a culturally-responsive and well-being-centered approach to explore how people can rise as effective allies to those suffering in our communities. Her widely cited and award-recognized research has informed both academic scholarship and practical understanding globally. She has published more than 60 journal articles and book chapters, 2 books, and writes the Psychology Today column, Better and Happier: The positive psychology of impactful and joyful allyship. Her work has been covered by 300+ media outlets in 30+ countries, and translated or presented in 10+ languages. Through raw and powerful true stories -- from STEM professionals and blue-collar workers in North America, to child soldiers in Congo, descendants of indentured laborers in Fiji, landlords in the slums of Kenya, and hospitality workers in Greece -- she explores how allyship and well-being unfold across diverse contexts and cultures.

Dr. Warren is a Professor of Management at Western Washington University and Faculty Affiliate at the Center for Positive Organizations, University of Michigan. She has served as a Visiting Fellow at the University of South Pacific, Fiji, and as a Visiting Scholar at CFK Africa, Kenya, and Kenyatta University, Kenya. She has also held leadership roles, including the Founding President of the Work & Organizations Division of the International Positive Psychology Association, Co-Founder of the Western Positive Psychology Association, and Co-Editor of the International Journal of Wellbeing.

As a Fulbright Specialist in Greece, she will develop an innovative, arts-based program to reduce bullying and mistreatment in the country’s cultural institutions. Drawing from her expertise in the science of well-being and strengths-based allyship, Warren will work with Human Flourishing Movement — a positive psychology NGO — and local artists to craft immersive staff training and customer-facing experiences. The programs will weave elements of Greek history, philosophy, and art into their design, ensuring they resonate deeply with local culture. The goal is to ease stress and interpersonal tension in high-pressure sectors, such as for hospitality workers during Greece’s busy tourism season, while promoting overall well-being.