Kelli Harding, MD, MPH, (she/her) is dedicated to creating a kinder and healthier world for all. She’s a diplomate of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, also boarded in the sub-specialty of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry / Psychosomatic (Mind-Body) Medicine. An expert in mental health, medicine, and public health, she’s on faculty at Columbia University’s Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City where she trained and teaches.

As a clinician, Dr. Harding takes a whole-person approach partnering with patients and families to integrate evidence-based medical treatments with a deep respect for the social dimensions of health. In her career, she’s worked extensively with neurodiverse children, teens, and adults diagnosed with mental conditions including those on the autism spectrum.

Dr. Harding is also the author of the critically acclaimed book The Rabbit Effect: Live Longer, Happier, and Healthier with the Groundbreaking Science of Kindness, which has led to the nickname “The Doctor of Kindness.” Dr. Harding grew up all around the US (Virginia, Florida, California, Colorado, and Nevada) and now calls New York City home with her husband and three sons—an eleventh-grader, ninth-grader, and six-grader—and beloved rescue Shepherd, Athena.

What’s not usually mentioned on her list of accomplishments but central to this community: “I’m neurodiverse, having grown up with dyslexia/ADHD and the child of two parents, not formally diagnosed during their childhoods, but clearly on the autism spectrum. I know what it feels like to navigate the world with non-apparent disabilities and hide parts of yourself to fit it. This project isn’t just an academic interest – it’s a personal journey that I know can help transform lives for the better.”