Polly Young Eisendrath, PhD, is a Jungian Analyst; Psychologist; Author; Clinical Supervisor, Norwich University, Northfield, Vermont;Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont; and in private practice in central Vermont. She is chairperson of the non-profit “Enlightening Conversations: Buddhism and Psychoanalysis Meeting in Person” that hosts conferences in cities around the USA. She has published many chapters and articles, as well as fifteen books that have been translated into more than twenty languages. Her most recent books are “The Present Heart: A Memoir of Love, Loss and Discovery” (Rodale, 2014); “The Self-Esteem Trap: Raising Confident and Compassionate Kids in an Age of Self-Importance” (Little, Brown, 2008); and “The Cambridge Companion to Jung: New and Revised,” of which she is co-editor with Terence Dawson (Cambridge University Press, 2008). Polly’s forthcoming book, “True Love Ways: Relationship as Psycho-Spiritual Development,” will be published in 2018.
Prof. Harris is a social neuroscientist who takes an interdisciplinary approach to understand human behaviour. His research explores the neural correlates of person perception, prejudice, dehumanization, anthropomorphism, social learning, social emotions, empathy, and punishment. This research addresses questions such as: How do we see people as less than human, and non-human objects as human beings? How do we modulate affective responses to people? How do we decide right from wrong?
Michael Onyebuchi Eze currently teaches African political theory at the University of Amsterdam and a fellow at Trinity Hall, University of Cambridge. Until recently, he was a visiting scholar at the Center for African Studies and a research associate at the Martin Luther King Jr., Institute, both at Stanford University. He is the founding Director, Center for Leadership and African Diaspora Studies, Covenant University of Nigeria. He was a Stiftung Mercator Foundation Research Fellow at the Kulturwissenschaftliches Institut (Institute for Advanced Study in Humanities) in Essen, Germany from 2006-2009. He received his Ph.D. (Summa Cum Laude) in History and Cultural Reflection from Universität Witten-Herdecke, Germany (2008), MA in Philosophy from the University of Pretoria, South Africa (2006), and BA Honours in philosophy and Classics from the Jesuit School of Philosophy in Harare, Zimbabwe (2003). He has taught at the universities of Frankfurt, Augsburg, and Colorado Christian University. He has published in many scientific journals, including two books, “The Politics of History in Contemporary Africa (2010) and “Intellectual History in Contemporary South Africa”(2010) both from Palgrave-Macmillan. A book manuscript “Religious Nationalism and Survival Politics in Contemporary Nigeria” is completed and under review with Cambridge University Press. Other scholarly peer reviewed articles include, “Pan Africanism and the Politics of History ( 2013), “Pan Africanism: A Brief Intellectual History” (forthcoming, 2013), “Humanism as History in Contemporary Africa” (2011), “The Politics of Being a Human Being In Soweto: Identity as a Social Capital” (2011), “I am Because You Are” (2011), “Pan-Africanism and the Politics of History” (2013), “Pan-Africanism: A Brief Intellectual History” (2013), “I am Because You Are: Cosmopolitanism in the Age of Xenophobia” (2017), and “Eco-Humanism: An African Environmental Theory,” among others.
Clifford Saron is a research scientist at the Center for Mind and Brain and MIND Institute at the University of California, Davis. He received his Ph.D. in neuroscience from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in 1999. In the early 1990s, he coordinated field research investigating Tibetan Buddhist mind training under the auspices of the private office of H. H. the Dalai Lama and the Mind & Life Institute. He has served on the Mind & Life Program and Research Council and been faculty at Mind & Life Summer Research Institutes in both Garrison, New York, and Chiemsee, Germany. Saron is principal investigator of the Shamatha Project, a mixed-methods multidisciplinary longitudinal investigation of the effects of long-term intensive meditation on physiological and psychological processes central to well- being, attention, emotion regulation, and health. It was conceived with and taught by Alan Wallace in collaboration with a large consortium of researchers at University of California, Davis and elsewhere. In 2012, Saron and his team were awarded the inaugural Templeton Prize Research Grant in honor of H. H. the Dalai Lama to continue this work. Recently, his group has also examined effects of one-month insight meditation retreats at Spirit Rock Meditation Center. Saron’s other research area focuses on uni- and multisensory processing in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) to better understand individual differences in how these children experience their daily sensory environments. Saron is also part of a study at University of California, San Francisco of mindfulness-based interventions for mothers of children with ASD.
At the 2018 International Symposium for Contemplative Research, Mind & Life presented Saron with its inaugural Service Award.
Cliff Saron served on the Mind & Life Steering Council from Spring 2016 to Spring 2019.
Read our tribute to Dr. Saron and his nearly three decades of service to Mind & Life on our blog »
Andrew Dreitcer is Professor of Spirituality, Director of Spiritual Formation, Director of the D.Min in “Spiritual Renewal, Contemplative Practice, and Strategic Leadership,” and co-directs the Center for Engaged Compassion at Claremont School of Theology. He founded a seminary program in spiritual direction, and served 15 years as a Presbyterian pastor. Current work includes comparative explorations of spiritual practices across religious traditions – and how these practices form lives of engaged compassion. Andrew has co-led workshops on compassion, healing, reconciliation, and restorative justice in Zimbabwe, the US, and the UK. He studied at Wabash College, Oxford, Yale, and the Graduate Theological Union and UC Berkeley. A year at the ecumenical Christian monastery of Taizé and participation in an intentionally Afro-centric activist congregation have significantly shaped his own spiritual life. His book, Living Compassion-Loving Like Jesus, was named one of the “Best Books of 2017” by the website, “Spirituality and Practice.” Andy and his wife have two daughters.
Sarah Bowen is an assistant professor of psychology at Pacific University in Portland, OR. Her research and clinical work has focused primarily on integrating meditation practice and mindfulness-based approaches traditional with Western cognitive behavioral approaches for addictive behaviors. The primary focus of her personal, clinical, and research practices has been exploration of processes underlying behavior change, and adaptation of treatments and practices to reach a wide and diverse patient and client population. In addition to numerous journal articles and book chapters in this area, Dr. Bowen is lead author of Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention for Addictive Behaviors: A Clinician’s Guide. She has been practicing in the Theravada tradition for about 15 years, and has facilitated mindfulness-based relapse prevention groups in private practice, veterans’ medical centers, county treatment agencies, and prisons. She offers professional trainings to researchers and clinicians in the U.S. and internationally. She has a particular interested in adapting and disseminating mindfulness-based treatment for dual-diagnosis and underserved populations.
Sarah Bowen served on the Mind & Life Steering Council from 2017 to 2020.
Robert W. Roeser is the Alice Valli Professor of Compassion and Ethics and Professor of Behavioral Social and Health Education Sciences at Emory University. He also serves as the Director of Research for the Center for Contemplative Science and Compassion-based Ethics in the College of Arts and Sciences.
He received his Ph.D. from the Combined Program in Education and Psychology at the University of Michigan (1996) and holds master’s degrees in religion and psychology (Holy Names College), developmental psychology and clinical social work (University of Michigan). He has held faculty appointments at Stanford University, Portland State University, and Penn State University.
In 2005 and 2016, Dr. Roeser was a United States Fulbright Scholar in India; and from 1999-2004 he was a William T. Grant Faculty Scholar. From 2006 to 2010, he served as the Senior Program Coordinator for the Mind and Life Institute and a coordinator for the Mind and Life Education Research Network (MLERN). Since, that time, Dr. Roeser has served in numerous roles with the Mind and Life Institute and currently is a member of its Research and Programs Council (RPC).
Dr. Roeser’s main research interests are in the areas of human motivation, identity and learning; adolescence and early adulthood, schooling as a central cultural context affecting students’ academic, social-emotional and identity development; and the implementation and impacts of mindfulness and compassion training programs on parent, teacher and student outcomes with respect to health and wellbeing, teaching and learning, and the creation of compassionate and equitable learning environments in schools. He also has a deep scholarly interest in indigenous Asian Indian psychologies and related forms of pedagogy, and conducts developmental and educational research in India on efforts at holistic human development and holistic education based on these indigenous ideas. His recent scholarly articles have focused on mindfulness in education, compassion in human development, and the need for new forms of holistic education to meet pressing global challenges.
Elissa Epel, Ph.D, is a Professor, and Vice Chair, in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, at University of California, San Francisco. She studies psychological, social, and behavioral pathways underlying chronic psychological stress and stress resilience that impact cellular aging and metabolic health, as well as how contemplative and biobehavioral interventions can promote stress and social resilience. She co-leads the UCSF Climate and Mental Health Task Force, and the Society of Behavioral Medicine Presidential subgroup focusing on Climate and Health Inequities. She is President of Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research, member of National Academy of Medicine.
Elissa helps lead the UCSF Aging, Metabolism, and Emotions Center, the NIH Stress Measurement Network and the new NIH Emotional Well Being network. Elissa serves as the co-chair of the Mind & Life Steering Council and is a Mind & Life Fellow. She currently serves as co-chair of the 2021 Summer Research Institute (“The Mind, the Human-Earth Connection, and the Climate Crisis”) and previously served as the co-chair of the 2019 Summer Research Institute (“Exploring Mental Habits: Contemplative Practices and Interventions for Individual and Social Flourishing”) and the 2017 Summer Research Institute (“Intersubjectivity and Social Connectivity”). She is the co-author of the New York Times bestseller The Telomere Effect.
Elissa Epel served on the Mind & Life Steering Council from Spring 2016 to Spring 2022.
Dr. Siegel is a clinical professor of psychiatry at the UCLA School of Medicine and the founding co-director of the Mindful Awareness Research Center at UCLA. He is also the executive director of the Mindsight Institute, which focuses on developing mindsight to teach insight, empathy, and integration in individuals, families, and communities. Dr. Siegel has published extensively for both the professional and lay audiences. His four “New York Times” best sellers are: “Mind: A Journey to the Heart of Being Human,” “Brainstorm: The Power and Purpose of the Teenage Brain,” and, with Tina Payne Bryson, Ph.D., “The Whole-Brain Child” and “No-Drama Discipline.” His other books include: “The Developing Mind” (2nd ed.), “Mindsight,” “The Mindful Brain,” “The Mindful Therapist,” “The Yes Brain” (also with Tina Payne Bryson), and his latest book, “Aware” (2018). Dr. Siegel also is the founding editor for the Norton Professional Series on Interpersonal Neurobiology, which contains over 60 textbooks.
Juan is an early-career researcher from Colombia who works in neuroscience and contemplative research. His training has involved studying the neurophysiological dynamics underlying meditation training and sensory perception in humans, and the structure and dynamics of sensory systems in mice. Through this, he has been involved in the development of strategies for neurophenomenological research as well as genetic techniques for mapping and manipulating neural circuits in mice. Outside of his research, Juan co-founded The Black Lotus Collective, an organization aimed at grounding the work of challenging systems of oppression in contemplative practice, as well as creating contemplative communities where people with marginalized identities feel safe, seen, and celebrated. Bringing these different threads of work together, he is currently working in Medellín, Colombia, to develop, implement, and test a meditation-based program to help FARC-EP ex-combatants with the psychological experience of reintegration as part of Colombia’s ongoing peacebuilding process. He is excited to be starting a PhD at MIT’s Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences where he hopes to connect and extend his work on human strategies for healing and resistance by studying how these strategies are grounded in our biology and our bodies’ embeddedness in the world.
