Professor
Columbia University School of Social Work
1521 2nd Ave
Apt. 2604
Seattle
WAUSA
98101
Email:
ghcl@columbia.edu
Biographical Sketch: Dr. Grace Christ is Professor in the Columbia University School of Social Work since 1992. She is also a co-founder of the newly formed Social Work Hospice and Palliative Care Network (SWHPN). This national organization emerged from the Social Work Leadership Development Awards Program of the Soros Foundations' Project on Death in America. Directed by Professor Christ the leadership program provided practice and research awards to advance social work leadership in the field of palliative care. She also directed the FDNY-CSU/Columbia University Family Intervention for families of firefighters who died in the WTC disaster. Dr. Christ was formerly the director of social work at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City (MSKCC) where she developed the first research unit within a department of social work; and is a founding and past president of the Association of Oncology Social Workers.
Her research interest include the following areas.
• Social Work practice and research in health and mental health
• Oncology and chronic illness
• Palliative and end-of-life care
• Disaster preparedness and response
• Normal, complicated and traumatic grief
She is currently working on an NINR sponsored grant to develop intervention strategies for adolescents who have a parent in Hospice.