Tim Requarth is the author of the newsletter The Third Hemisphere, a neuroscientist’s field notes on how AI is (or isn’t) rewiring our brains. A contributing writer at Slate and a columnist at The Transmitter, his work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Nation, The New Republic, Foreign Policy, and Scientific American, among others. He received his PhD in neuroscience from Columbia University, and for nine years he directed NeuWrite, an international network of workshops for scientists and writers. He was a 2018 UC Berkeley-11th Hour Food & Farming Journalism Fellow and is a 2019-2020 Brown Institute for Media Innovation “magic grant” recipient. His essay, The Final Five Percent, won the National Association of Science Writers 2020 Science in Society Journalism Award in the Longform Narratives category, and appeared in Best American Science & Nature Writing 2020. He’s currently a Research Assistant Professor of Neuroscience & Physiology and Director of Graduate Science Writing at the Vilcek Institute of Graduate Biomedical Sciences at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine, where he studies how AI affects cognition and education.

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Lauren Sisler is an ESPN and SEC Network sideline reporter, host of SEC Nation, and an Emmy-winning sports journalist known as much for her authenticity as her on-air presence. Behind the scenes, Lauren carries a deeply personal story: as a college freshman, she lost both of her parents within hours to prescription drug overdoses. In her 2024 memoir, Shatterproof: How I Overcame the Shame of Losing My Parents to Opioid Addiction (and Found My Sideline Shimmy), Lauren writes candidly about grief, shame, faith, and how telling the truth became a path to healing. Today, she uses her platform to speak openly about addiction, resilience, and what it means to keep showing up—on the sidelines and in life.

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Ben Westhoff is an award-winning investigative reporter whose books are taught around the country and have been translated around the world, including Fentanyl, Inc.: How Rogue Chemists Created the Deadliest Wave of the Opioid Epidemic, the bombshell first book about the fentanyl epidemic. He has advised officials at the top levels of government about the opioid crisis, and been interviewed as an expert commentator on CNN, NPR, and CSPAN, and on full, dedicated episodes of Fresh Air and the Joe Rogan Experience. His new documentary, called Antagonist, is about the suppression of the opioid treatment drug naltrexone (best known as Vivitrol) by big-money interests. He publishes a Substack newsletter called Drugs + Hip-Hop, and has written for The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Wall Street Journal, Rolling Stone, and the Guardian.

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Montee Ball Jr. is one of the most accomplished running backs in college football history whose life ultimately became defined not just by records, but by recovery. A dominant high school and University of Wisconsin star, Ball set NCAA records for career touchdowns, earned multiple All-American honors, won the Doak Walker Award, and finished fourth in Heisman Trophy voting. Drafted in the second round by the Denver Broncos in 2013, his NFL career was cut short as injuries took their toll. After legal trouble and personal challenges, Ball entered recovery, rebuilt his life, and is now sober, a father, and doing incredible work to help others. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2025 and now uses his story to help those facing addiction and identity loss.

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Dr. Andrea Temkin-Yu is an Assistant Professor of Psychology in Clinical Psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medicine. With training in evidence-based treatments for youth and young adult mental health, Dr. Temkin-Yu is an expert in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and parent focused interventions. The author of the new book, Supporting Your Teen’s Mental Health: Science-based Parenting Strategies for Repairing Relationships and Helping Young People Thrive, she is passionate about increasing community education on mental health. Her research focuses on improving access to mental health support through easy-to-use treatments and the use of technology.

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Actor, writer and producer David Koechner is well-known for his roles as Todd Packer on “The Office” and Champ Kind from “Anchorman” and “Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues.” He recently appeared on ABC’s “The Goldbergs,” ABC’s “Bless This Mess,” CBS's "Superior Donuts," ShowTime's "Twin Peaks," Comedy Central’s “Another Period” IFC's "Stan Against Evil" and co-hosted A&E’s “America’s Top Dog.” Koechner voices reoccurring characters on FOX’s “American Dad” and Ne_lix’s “F is for Family” and "The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants." In film, recent projects include “Then Came You,” “Braking for Whales” “A Week Away,” “Vicious Fun” and “National Champions.” Upcoming releases include “Half Baked 2” and “Ganymede.”

An alumnus of Chicago’s Second City Theater, Koechner got his first break as a cast member on “Saturday Night Live” and has since become an instantly recognizable face appearing in more than 200 films and television shows. Additional notable film credits include “Waiting,” “Out Cold,” “Talladega Nights,” “Get Smart,” “Extract,” “Thank You for Smoking,” “A Haunted House,” “Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse,” “Priceless,” Legendary’s “Krampus,” and the dark, twisted, film festival award-winning thriller, "Cheap Thrills."

When not filming, Koechner performs live comedy across the country. He also co-hosts Big Slick Celebrity Weekend - an annual charity event benefitng Children’s Mercy Hospital of Kansas City - with fellow KC natives, Rob Riggle, Paul Rudd, Jason Sudeikis and Eric Stonestreet. Koechner currently resides in Los Angeles, Calif.

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Dr. Joseph J. Avery is an Assistant Professor at the Miami Herbert Business School. He has additional appointments in Miami’s Department of Psychology and its Institute for Data Science and Computing, and he is an Affiliated Fellow at Yale Law School’s Information Society Project.

Dr. Avery’s research interests are at the intersection of business, law, and artificial intelligence. His scholarship has been published in leading peer-reviewed journals as well as top law reviews.

Prior to joining Miami’s faculty, Dr. Avery received a PhD from Princeton University and a JD from Columbia Law School. He also completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Yale Law School.

Beyond academia, Dr. Avery has practiced law and founded a National Science Foundation-supported legal technology company.

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During his time in Congress, Patrick J. Kennedy was the lead author of the landmark Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (Federal Parity Law), which requires insurers to cover treatment for mental health and substance use disorders no more restrictively than treatment for illnesses of the body, such as diabetes and cancer. In 2013, he founded The Kennedy Forum, a nonprofit that unites advocates, business leaders, and government agencies to advance evidence-based practices, policies, and programming in mental health and addiction. In 2015, Kennedy co-authored the New York Times Bestseller, “A Common Struggle: A Personal Journey Through the Past and Future of Mental Illness and Addiction,” which details a bold plan for the future of mental health care in America. In 2023, The Kennedy Forum launched the Alignment for Progress, a movement to align leaders from across industry and across the aisle to achieve 90/90/90 by 2033: 90% of all individuals will be screened for mental health and substance use disorders; 90% of those screened will be able to receive evidence-based treatment; 90% of those receiving treatment will be able to manage their symptoms in recovery. Kennedy’s second co-authored book “Profiles in Mental Health Courage” available April 2024 will delve into the compelling stories of a diverse group of Americans who have struggled with their mental health – many of whom are sharing their stories for the first time.

Kennedy is also the founder of DontDenyMe.org, an educational campaign that empowers consumers and providers to understand parity rights and connects them to essential appeals guidance and resources; co-founder of One Mind, an organization that pushes for greater global investment in brain research; co-chair of the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention’s Mental Health & Suicide Prevention National Response to COVID-19 (National Response); and co-chair of the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Behavioral Health Integration Task Force.

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