Meet Our 2025 Sunday Paper Health and Wellness Architects of Change
Here at The Sunday Paper, we’re on a mission to elevate the voices of those who are creating a better world for all of us. We’re committed to spotlighting the people who see what’s broken in our system and do the work to fix it. We want to introduce you to those who are helping all of us live healthier, more grounded lives.
Our 2025 Health and Wellness Architects of Change represent some of the best of these people. They are scientists closing the gender research gap, clinicians rewriting outdated protocols, health educators sharing evidence-based information, and other leaders who want to help build a world in which all of us feel more empowered about our health.
Their work gives us hope that despite the challenges we collectively face, progress is possible. We hope reading about these extraordinary people will inspire you to make meaningful changes in your own life, one informed choice and compassionate step at a time.
MEET OUR 2025 HEALTH & WELLNESS ARCHITECTS OF CHANGE
Stacy Sims, PhD, exercise physiologist, nutrition scientist, and author of Roar and Next Level
“Women are not small men.” Stacy Sims, one of the leading researchers on how women’s physiology influences optimal training and performance, has used this phrase for more than two decades to challenge the long-standing practice of applying research based on male data to women. Sims underscores this truth in every aspect of her work, from her 2019 hit TED Talk to her impactful social media videos and bestselling books. This year, Sims was featured in several of 2025’s most shared podcasts, where she focused on female-specific exercise and nutrition advice in an effort to help women better understand the nuances of the female body so they can build strength and resilience throughout their lives.
Click here to watch Maria’s conversation with Stacy Sims.
Jessica Knurick, PhD, RD, a nutrition scientist whose Instagram posts debunking health misinformation often go viral
We’re living in a moment of serious upheaval in public health, with drastic changes happening to evidence-based guidelines and scary health headlines dominating the news. The result? Many of us are confused about who and what to trust. Enter Jessica Knurick, who’s on a mission to dismantle misleading ideas, push back on false claims, teach scientific literacy, and spread evidence-based information—all with her signature mix of scientific rigor and compassion. She’s a must-follow on Instagram, and an expert and advocate we’ve come to rely on when we feel lost in the chaos of health misinformation.
Click here for our conversation with Jessica Knurick.
Jonathan Haidt, a social psychologist at New York University’s Stern School of Business and author of The Anxious Generation
This year, Australia enacted the world’s first ban on social media usage for those under 16 years old. It’s a new law inspired by growing concerns about social media’s impact on teen mental health, which were highlighted in Jonathan Haidt’s bestselling book, The Anxious Generation. While that book came out in 2024, Haidt continues to lead the conversation about the evidence-based link between the rise of smartphone use in childhood with the unprecedented spikes in loneliness, anxiety, and depression among teens. His work continues to spark a cultural reckoning and a shift in public policy, with grateful parents, educators, and policymakers feeling like they finally have a roadmap to protect the next generation.
Click here to watch Maria’s conversation with Jonathan Haidt.
Joanne Molinaro, aka the Korean Vegan, bestselling cookbook author and entrepreneur
Through her deeply personal storytelling on social media (where she has more than 5 million fans), her bestselling cookbooks, and her latest venture—a vegan and cruelty-free skincare and haircare brand—Joanne Molinaro is redefining what “wellness” can look like. The way she talks authentically about food, identity, mental health, and social justice cuts through the noise and reminds us that healing often begins with the stories we dare to share.
Click here to read our conversation with The Korean Vegan, Joanne Molinaro.
Dixon Chibanda, MD, a psychiatrist and author of The Friendship Benth: How Fourteen Grandmothers Inspired a Mental Health Revolution
When psychiatrist Dixon Chibanda, MD, noticed how many people in his native Zimbabwe were suffering from depression and anxiety but couldn’t get the support they needed, he knew he wanted to help. But how, given his native country had just 10 psychiatrists for its 13 million population? The answer Dr. Chibanda came up with: Lean on elders’ wisdom and train grandmothers in basic talk therapy skills, then ask them to meet people in need. “Human beings need connection,” Dr. Chibanda told The Sunday Paper. “Because when human beings connect, they thrive.” His mission has grown, with more than 600 grandmothers (and counting!) trained in Zimbabwe and communities around the world adopting the approach.
“The Menoposse,” a group of menopause specialists who banded together and worked to advocate for the removal of the black box label on hormone therapy
These days, we’re talking about menopause more than ever before. This is in large part thanks to clinicians like Dr. Mary Claire Haver, Dr. Kelly Casperson, Dr. Rachel Rubin, Dr. Vonda Wright, and others who are writing books, launching podcasts, and getting on social media to talk to us about what we need to know about this pivotal transition. As these experts connected online and at conferences, they began supporting one another’s work, banded together, and even created a cheeky name for themselves: the menoposse.
For years, these clinicians have called on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to remove the so-called black box label on local, low-dose vaginal estrogen—a warning that has historically scared many women away from using this important therapy. Earlier this year, the FDA announced it would remove the warning label on all estrogen-containing menopause hormone therapies. It’s a milestone that reflects the power of evidence and advocacy.
Eric Dane, actor, ALS advocate, and author of the forthcoming memoir, Book of Days
Best known for his iconic roles as Dr. Mark “McSteamy” Sloan on Grey’s Anatomy and Cal Jacobs on HBO’s Euphoria, Eric Dane stepped into a new role as a health advocate after he was diagnosed with ALS earlier this year. He traveled to the Capitol to advocate for the reauthorization of the ACT for ALS law, which expands access to treatments and is set to expire in 2026. Dane also partnered with the patient advocacy organization I AM ALS and is now working to raise awareness and funding for ALS research. Next year, Dane will publish his memoir in which he’ll reflect on the defining moments of his career and his life, as well as the path he’s been navigating since finding out he has this incurable disease. Through his courageous advocacy work, Dane is showing all of us what’s possible in the face of a life-altering diagnosis.
Jen Hatmaker, speaker, author, and author of Awake
What happens when you find out your husband of 26 years is having an affair? If you’re Jen Hatmaker, you rebuild your life as a single woman, re-think your previous image of what a “perfect” family looks like, and show up in the world with the kind of radical transparency about your painful experiences in a way that all of us can feel seen in your journey as well. “Here I am, five years later, and I cannot believe I am saying this but my life is so much more beautiful now,” Hatmaker told The Sunday Paper. “It is more honest and fulfilling. I have agency that I have never exercised in my lifetime. I am the architect of the second half of my story.” By speaking openly about her divorce and her mental health journey, Hatmaker destigmatized the inner struggles so many of us carry alone, encouraging us to be vulnerable, lean in to our support systems, and reclaim our own wellbeing.
Click here to watch Maria’s conversation with Jen Hatmaker.
Jim Murphy, performance coach and author of Inner Excellence
When Eagles player A.J. Brown was caught reading Jim Murphy’s book, Inner Excellence, on the sidelines of a playoff game, the 2020 book went viral and became a New York Times #1 Bestseller. While the book outlines Murphy’s training system, which he developed to empower athletes to become champions, it’s so much more than that. “It’s about training your heart and mind for the best possible life,” Murphy told The Sunday Paper. “It’s about learning how to be your true self—how to develop inner peace and inner strength so you can find joy under the most stressful situations.” If that’s not a manifesto for living a healthy, happy life, we don’t know what is.
Answer
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