Kristen Gilliland helps teens struggling with addiction and honors her son's memory

David Plazas, Nashville Tennessean
·1 min read

The day I interviewed Kristen Gilliland was Oct. 23, which would have been the birthday of her son, Anders.

In 2019, Anders tragically died of an accidental overdose. He was 22.

Gilliland, researcher and holds a Ph.D. in organic chemistry, honors her son's memory in the work she does as director of outreach and advocacy programs of the Warren Center for Neuroscience Drug Discovery at Vanderbilt.

Kristen Gilliland
Kristen Gilliland

She also directed the documentary "Speaking Through Me," which premiered at The Franklin Theatre on Aug. 15, and it shares the stories of young people grappling with addiction and mental health challenges and how they are working to overcome their challenges.

This is Episode 376 of the Tennessee Voices vodcast, and Gilliland shared her personal journey as well as the work she does to help teenagers who are struggling.

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The Tennessee Voices videocast is a 20-minute program, which started in March 2020 and invites leaders, thinkers and innovators who have written guest columns for a USA TODAY Network Tennessee publication to share their insights and wisdom with me and our viewers.

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David Plazas is the director of opinion and engagement for the USA TODAY Network Tennessee. He is an editorial board member of The Tennessean. He hosts the Tennessee Voices videocast and curates the Tennessee Voices and Latino Tennessee Voices newsletters. Call him at (615) 259-8063 or email him at dplazas@tennessean.com.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Kristen Gilliland's son died of an overdose. She works to help teens.