Tawni Tidwell is a Research Assistant Professor and Research Scientist at the Center for Healthy Minds, University of Wisconsin–Madison, with experience in various roles since August 2019. Tawni has been an Editorial Associate for the Tibetan Community Health Network since 2013, focusing on translating health literature into Tibetan. A Numata Visiting Professor at the University of Vienna in 2022, and a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Austrian Academy of Sciences from 2018 to 2019, Tawni researched Tibetan medicine. Previously, Tawni earned a PhD in Anthropology from Emory University, where research encompassed biocultural perspectives on health and Tibetan medical systems. Additional professional experiences include serving as a Course Director and Instructor for Where There Be Dragons and working as an Environment, Development & Energy Engineer-Analyst at HDR. Educational qualifications include a TMD from Tibetan Medical College and a Bachelor's degree from Stanford University.
Center for Healthy Minds, University of Wisconsin–Madison
Our Mission: To cultivate well-being and relieve suffering through a scientific understanding of the mind Our Vision: A kinder, wiser, more compassionate world About the Center for Healthy Minds: Faced with mental and physical health challenges at a global scale, we conduct rigorous scientific research to bring new insights and tools aimed at improving the well-being of people of all backgrounds and ages. Our research, rooted in neuroscience, comes down to one basic question: What constitutes a healthy mind? Under the leadership of renowned neuroscientist Richard J. Davidson, we're examining contemplative practices and qualities of mind we suspect affect well-being, including attention, resilience, equanimity, savoring positive emotions, kindness, compassion, gratitude and empathy. A part of UW–Madison, one of the world’s top research institutions, we benefit from cross-disciplinary collaborations in the arts and humanities, the physical and natural sciences, and the social sciences. The Center recently founded a non-profit, Healthy Minds Innovations, Inc., which takes the discoveries and insights gleaned from Center research and transforms them into tools and services that allow for larger data collection and new ideas for additional research to continually inform the neuroscience of well-being.