Dr. Christina Puchalski is professor of medicine at The George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and founding director of the George Washington Institute for Spirituality and Health (GWish). She is a pioneer and international leader in the movement to integrate spirituality into health care in clinical settings and medical education. These programs and‎ activities have encouraged the development of a patient-centered perspective. Dr. Puchalski developed the FICA spiritual history tool, which is widely ‎used in clinical settings and is board certified in palliative care and internal medicine. She also ‎directs an interdisciplinary outpatient supportive and palliative clinic and is a Medical Hospice Director in Washington, D.C.

Dr. Puchalski is the author of Time for Listening and Caring: Spirituality and the Care of the Seriously Ill and Dying (Oxford University Press) and co-author, with Dr. Betty Ferrell,‎ of Making Health Care Whole (Templeton Press), based on consensus work resulting in guidelines for inter-professional spiritual care. She is also co-editor of an international textbook on spirituality and health published by Oxford University Press.