Carolyn L. Williams is a Professor Emerita at the University of Minnesota's School of Public Health in the Division of Epidemiology and Community Health. She is the author of books and scientific articles on refugees, psychological assessment, and adolescents. Working across cultures has been a longstanding interest. This includes being the only American and only woman appointed to a 5-person fact-finding mission by the World Health Organization (WHO) to refugee camps along the Thai-Cambodian border. She taught summer courses at Oxford University for professionals working around the world with refugees.

Joseph Westermeyer (1937-2024) was at the time of original publication based at University of Minnesota. He served as a physician and psychiatrist in Laos from 1965 to 1967. During that time, he worked extensively with various ethnic groups, including the Hmong, and became a leading expert on public health, addiction, and mental health in the region. He famously established a drug treatment center and his research from this period formed the basis of his influential book, Poppies, Pipes, and People: Opium and Its Use in Laos. His work in Laos was foundational for his later career in the USA as a renowned authority on refugee mental health, particularly among the Hmong communities that resettled in Minnesota, California, and other states.