Francis S. Collins, MD, Ph.D, is a physician-scientist and one of the best-known scientists of the current era.  His own research has led to the discovery of the cause of cystic fibrosis and several other genetic disorders.  He continues to lead an active research group at the National Institutes of Health focused on diabetes and progeria, a rare form of premature aging.  He is also currently leading a national initiative to eliminate the viral disease hepatitis C.

Sarah Vowell is a contributing editor for public radio's This American Life and has written for Time, Esquire, GQ, Spin, Salon, McSweeneys, The Village Voice, and the Los Angeles Times. She is the author of Radio On, Take the Cannoli, and The Partly Cloudy Patriot. She lives in New York City.

Alice Randall is a New York Times best-selling novelist, award-winning songwriter, educator, food activist, and now memoirist. A graduate of Harvard University, she holds an honorary doctorate from Fisk University, is on the faculty at Vanderbilt University, and credits Detroit’s Ziggy Johnson School of the Theater with being the most influential educational institution in her life.