Search Results for: n

• Bayley, P.J., Schulz-Heik, R.J., Tang, J.S., Mathersul, D.C., Avery, T., Wong, M., Zeitzer, J.M., Rosen, C.S., Burn, A.S., Hernandez, B., Lazzeroni, L.C., & Seppälä, E.M. (2022). Randomised clinical non-inferiority trial of breathing-based meditation and cognitive processing therapy for symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder in military veterans. BMJ Open. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2021-056609

  Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a debilitating condition that can develop after exposure to a traumatic event. Symptoms include re-experiencing, avoidance, negative alterations in cognition and mood, and increased arousal and reactivity. The lifetime prevalence of PTSD is estimated at 24.5% in veteran populations. Veterans Affairs (VA)/Department of Defense (DoD) clinical practice guidelines recommend evidence-based, trauma-focused therapies including prolonged exposure therapy, cognitive processing therapy (CPT) and eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing as first-line treatments for PTSD. These therapies typically show large effect sizes (>1.0). However, up to two-thirds of individuals retain a PTSD diagnosis post treatment and dropout is a significant problem. Other treatments are urgently needed, and there are compelling reasons for considering complementary and integrative health (CIH) modalities such as yoga and meditation.

  CIH interventions can be effective, less stigmatising and are popular. However, a review of the literature reveals several limitations: small–medium effect sizes and methodological concerns regarding controls, small sample sizes, randomisation, blinding and reporting. More high-quality, well-controlled studies are needed.

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• Mathersul, D.C., Tang, J.S., Schulz-Heik, R.J., Avery, T.J., Seppala, E.M., & Bayley, P.J. (2019). Study protocol for a non-inferiority randomised controlled trial of SKY breathing meditation versus cognitive processing therapy for PTSD among veterans. BMJ. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2018-027150

  Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a debilitating, highly prevalent condition. Current clinical practice guidelines recommend trauma-focused psychotherapy (eg, cognitive processing therapy; CPT) as the first-line treatment for PTSD. However, while these treatments show clinically meaningful symptom improvement, the majority of those who begin treatment retain a diagnosis of PTSD post-treatment. Perhaps for this reason, many individuals with PTSD have sought more holistic, mind–body, complementary and integrative health (CIH) interventions. However, there remains a paucity of high-quality, active controlled efficacy studies of CIH interventions for PTSD, which precludes their formal recommendation.

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• Scarlet, J., Altmeyer, N., Knier, S., & Harpin, R. E. (2017). The effects of Compassion Cultivation Training (CCT) on health-care workers. Clinical Psychologist, 21, 116–124. doi:10.1111 /cp.12130

  The main objective of this pilot study was to investigate the effects of the Compassion Cultivation Training (CCT) on various aspects of burnout and job satisfaction in health-care workers. Specifically, this study sought to investigate whether CCT reduces work-related burnout, interpersonal conflict, as well as increases of mindfulness, compassion toward the self, fears of compassion, and job satisfaction scores.

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• Jazaieri, H., McGonigal, K., Lee, I. A., Jinpa, T., Doty, J. R., Gross, J. J., & Goldin, P. R. (2017). Altering the trajectory of affect and affect regulation: The impact of compassion training. Mindfulness. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1007/s12671-017-0773-3

  Investigators examined the effects of a compassion training program on affect and affect regulation by implementing a 9-week compassion cultivation training (CCT) program and analyzing four affective states (anxiety, calm, fatigue, alertness) as well as the desire and capability to regulate them. Daily trajectories showed a general decrease in anxiety and an increase in calmness, likely due to participants tending to choose acceptance of the affective experience, regardless of whether they were negative or positive. At the same time, participants also reported more capability in meeting their goals for affective regulation. Over the course of the training program, participants reported greater acceptance in the face of stress and/or anxiety.  Implications for the effects of compassion training programs on affective regulation and self-efficacy are discussed.

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• Seppala, E. M., Simon-Thomas, E., Brown, S. L., Worline, M. C., Cameron, C. D., & Doty, J. R. (2017). The Oxford Handbook of Compassion Science. Oxford University Press. doi: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190464684.001.0001
  

  The first of its kind, this handbook is dedicated to the rapidly growing, evidence-based literature on compassion, altruism, and empathy. Contributed by experts and organized by themes, each chapter presents a multidisciplinary and systematic approach to include basic and clinical research as well as grounded theories and multiple perspectives to understanding the neurobiological, developmental, evolutionary, social, and clinical applications of compassion science. Bridging gaps among multiple disciplines, this handbook will serve as a valuable reference to further build upon and understand the foundation of compassion science to guide basic and applied research.

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• Genevsky, A., & Knutson, B. (2015). Neural affective mechanisms predict market-level microlending. Psychological Science, 26(9), 1411-1422. doi:10.1177/0956797615588467

  Researchers investigate the neural mechanisms in which microloans receive approval based on the elicitation of positive affect by applicant’s photographs in two separate studies: one internet and the other a neuroimaging study. The internet study showed that positive affect in applicant photographs promoted loan success. The neuroimaging study further extended the internet findings by showing lender’s active regions in the brain where positive emotions are closely associated with, the nucleus accumbens, as well as self-reported positive affect by lenders who approved loans for those applicants who had high ratings of eliciting positive emotions. Implications for the role of affective neuroscience in microlending success and market-level behaviors are discussed.

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• Jazaieri, H., Lee, I. A., McGonigal, K., Jinpa, T., Doty, J. R., Gross, J. J., & Goldin, P. (2015). A wandering mind is a less caring mind: Daily experience sampling during compassion meditation training. Journal of Positive Psychology. doi:10.1080/17439760.2015.1025418 

  The effects of the Compassion Cultivation Training (CCT) program, a 9-week, twice daily compassion meditation, was found to reduce mind wandering towards neutral thoughts and increased caring behaviors for oneself. Further path analysis indicated that compassion meditation was associated with reduced mind wandering for unpleasant thoughts and increased mind wandering to pleasant thoughts, and that both were associated with increased caring behavior for oneself and others. This is the first known study to lend partial support that formal compassion training reduces mind wandering while increasing caring behavior not only for oneself but also for others.

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• Neff, K. D., & Seppala, E. M. (2016). Compassion, well-being, and the hypoegoic self. In K. W. Brown & M. Leary (Eds.), Oxford Handbook of Hypo-egoic Phenomena. Theory and Research on the Quiet Ego (pp. 189-202). Oxford University Press.

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• Seppala, E. M., Hutcherson, C. A., Nguyen, D. T. H., Doty, J. R., & Gross, J. J. (2014). Loving-kindness meditation: A tool to improve healthcare provider compassion, resilience, and patient care. Journal of Compassionate Healthcare. doi:10.1186/s40639-014-0005-9

  Stress and burnout is prevalent in the healthcare industry. Numerous research focused on reducing these strains on healthcare professionals can be time-consuming and intensive. Thus, this study sought to investigate the effectiveness of a short, 10- minute compassion-inducing intervention, lovingkindness meditation (LKM), to attempt to address this obvious disconnected need for a short, non-intensive, and effective intervention. LKM was compared to a positive affect induction (self-focus) and a neutral control condition. Ten minutes of LKM showed increased explicit as well as implicit levels of well-being and feelings of social connection to others and decreased focus on the self. Implications for decreasing burnout and improving patient care is discussed.

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• Martin, D., Seppala, E., Heineberg, Y., Rossomando, T., Doty, J., Zimbardo, P., Shiue, T.-T., Berger, R., & Zhou, Y. Y. (2015). Multiple facets of compassion: The impact of social dominance orientation and economic systems justification. Journal of Business Ethics, 129(1), 237-249. doi:10.1007/s10551-014-2157-0

  Social Dominance Orientation (SDO) is a hierarchical worldview that ascribes people to social rankings and is often found in high levels among business school students. To establish the relationship between individual differences in compassion, SDO, and free ESJ (Economic Systems Justification), partial correlations were run controlling for social desirability to response bias. As anticipated, a significant correlation between ESJ and SDO was established. Significant correlations between SDO and low levels of Self-Compassion supported the hypotheses that those with higher levels of SDO have lower levels of self-compassion.

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  Ronald E. Anderson, PhD

  Professor Emeritus, University of Minnesota

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  C. Daniel Batson, PhD

  Professor Emeritus of Psychology, University of Kansas

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  Rony Berger, PsyD

  Associate Professor of Psychology, Emergency Medicine, Ben Gurion University of the Negev & Adjunct Professor, Tel Aviv University

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  Antonio Damasio, PhD

  David Dornsife Professor of Neuroscience, University of Southern California

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  Richard Davidson, PhD

  Vilas Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin, Madison

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  Nancy Eisenberg, PhD

  Professor of Psychology, Arizona State University

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  Owen Flanagan, PhD

  Professor of Philosophy, Duke University

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  Michael Gazzaniga, PhD

  Professor of Psychology, UC Santa Barbara

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  Jonathan Haidt, PhD

  Associate Professor of Psychology, University of Virginia

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  Thupten Jinpa, PhD

  President, Institute of Tibetan Classics
  Senior Contemplative Advisor and Board of Directors Chair, Mind and Life Institute
  Adjunct Professor of Religious Studies, McGill University

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  William Mobley, M.D., PhD

  Chair of Neuroscience, University of California San Diego

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  Tania Singer, PhD

  Professor of Neuroscience and Neuroeconomics, University of Zurich, Switzerland

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  Philip Zimbardo, PhD

  Professor Emeritus of Psychology, Stanford University

  Philip Zimbardo was born in 1933 and grew up in the South Bronx ghetto of New York City in a poor, uneducated Sicilian-American family. From this experience he learned that people, not material possessions, are our most valuable resource, that diversity should be embraced because it enriches us, and that education is the key to escaping poverty. His education began in New York Public School 52 and later included Monroe High School (with classmate Stanley Milgram), Brooklyn College (published his first research article on race relations), and Yale University for his Ph.D. (in 1959). Dr. Zimbardo has been on the faculty at Yale, New York University, Columbia University, and Stanford University, where he has been a professor since 1968. Among his honorary degrees are those from Greece’s Aristotle University, Peru’s San Martin University, and the Pacific Graduate School of Psychology (in clinical psychology). For more than 40 years, Dr. Zimbardo has devoted his career to teaching, scientific research, the practice of psychology, and applying psychological knowledge to improve the human condition. Dr. Zimbardo has authored more than 250 articles, chapters, and books on topics that range from exploratory behavior in rats to persuasion, dissonance, hypnosis, cults, shyness, time perspective, deindividuation, prisons, and madness. His Stanford Prison Experiment is considered a classic demonstration of the power of situations to shape human behavior. At the APA convention in the August, 2000, he received the APA Division 1 Hilgard Award for his lifetime contributions to theory and research in general psychology.

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  Laura Roberts, MD

  Chairman, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University
  Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University

  Author/editor of 7 books and monographs and more than 225 articles in peer-reviewed journals and book chapters, Dr. Roberts is a nationally recognized scholar and leader in ethics, psychiatry, and medical education. Since 2003 she has served as the Editor-in-Chief of Academic Psychiatry—a journal focused on innovative education, mentorship, and leadership in academic psychiatry.

  Dr. Roberts has performed numerous empirical studies of contemporary ethics issues in medicine, science, and health policy, including research on informed consent, ethical considerations in genetic inquiry, health care and clinical investigation involving members of vulnerable populations, death and dying, professionalism education, and related topics. Dr. Roberts’ research has been funded through competitive grants from the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Energy as well as the National Alliance of Schizophrenia and Depression, the Arnold P. Gold Foundation, and other private foundations.

  Dr. Roberts has been elected or appointed to several prominent leadership roles nationally, including president of the Association for Academic Psychiatry and president of the American Association of Chairs of Departments of Psychiatry. In 2008 she received the University of Toronto Centennial Award for Leading International Psychiatric Educator, and in 2010 she was given the Association for Academic Psychiatry Lifetime Achievement Award. With colleagues, she has recently written or edited several books, including Concise Guide to Ethics in Mental Health Care, Professionalism and Ethics: Q & A Self-Study Guide, Handbook of Career Development in Academic Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, The Book of Ethics: Expert Guidance for Professionals Who Treat Addiction and Clinical Psychiatry Essentials. She is presently working on International Handbook of Psychiatry: A Concise Guide for Medical Students, Residents, and Medical Practitioners.

  Dr. Roberts joined the faculty of Stanford in September 2010. She previously was the Chairman and Charles E. Kubly Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin and Professor and Vice Chair for Administration in the Department of Psychiatry, the Jack and Donna Rust Professor of Biomedical Ethics, and the Founder and Director of the Institute of Ethics at the University of New Mexico. Dr. Roberts performed her undergraduate, graduate, and fellowship training at the University of Chicago and her residency training at the University of New Mexico.

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  Brian A. Wandell, PhD

  Chairman, Department of Psychology, Stanford University
  Professor of Psychology and Electrical Engineering, Stanford University

  Brian A. Wandell is the first Isaac and Madeline Stein Family Professor. He joined the Stanford faculty in 1979 where he is Chair of Psychology and a member, by courtesy, of Electrical Engineering and Radiology. His research projects center on how we see, spanning topics from visual disorders, reading development in children, to digital imaging devices and algorithms.

  He graduated from the University of Michigan in 1973 with a B.S. in mathematics and psychology. In 1977, he earned a Ph.D. in social science from the University of California at Irvine. After a year as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Pennsylvania, he joined the faculty of Stanford University in 1979. Professor Wandell was promoted to associate professor with tenure in 1984 and became a full professor in 1988. In 1986, Dr. Wandell won the Troland Research Award from the National Academy of Sciences for his work in color vision. He was made a fellow of the Optical Society of America in 1990; in 1997 he became a McKnight Senior Investigator and received the Edridge Green Medal in Ophthalmology for work in visual neuroscience. In 2000, he was awarded the Macbeth Prize from the Inter-Society Color Council, and in 2007 he was named Electronic Imaging Scientist of the Year by the SPIE/IS&T, and he was awarded the Tillyer Prize from the Optical Society of America in 2008. Wandell was elected to the US National Academy of Sciences in 2003.

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  Gary K. Steinberg, MD, PhD

  Director, Stanford Institute for Neuro-Innovation and Translational Neurosciences
  Chairman, Department of Neurosurgery, Stanford University
  Professor of Neurosurgery and the Neurosciences, Stanford University

  Dr. Steinberg graduated summa cum laude with Honors in Biology from Yale University, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He was accepted into the Medical Scientist Training Program at Stanford University School of Medicine receiving his medical and doctoral degrees in neuroscience in 1980. He completed his surgical internship and residency in Neurological Surgery at Stanford. In 1987, Dr. Steinberg joined the faculty at Stanford as an Assistant Professor in Neurosurgery, being promoted to Associate Professor with tenure in 1993 and Professor in 1997. He was instrumental in forming the Stanford Stroke Center in 1991 and is currently the Co-Director. He was appointed Chairman of the Department of Neurosurgery at Stanford in 1995 and holds the Bernard and Ronni Lacroute-William Randolph Hearst Endowed Chair of Neurosurgery and the Neurosciences. Dr. Steinberg has also been a member of the Executive Committee of the Neuroscience Institute and of the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education at Stanford since their inceptions. He is currently the director for the Stanford Institute for Neuro-Innovation and Translational Neurosciences.

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  Brian Knutson, PhD

  Associate Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience, Stanford University

  Brian Knutson is an assistant professor of psychology and neuroscience at Stanford University, and a CHP/PCOR associate. His research focuses on the neural basis of emotional experience and expression. He investigates this topic with a number of methods including self-report, measurement of nonverbal behavior, comparative ethology, psychopharmacology, and functional brain imaging. His long-term goal is to understand the neurochemical and neuroanatomical mechanisms responsible for emotional experience and to explore the implications of these findings for the assessment and treatment of clinical disorders of affect and addiction, as well as economic behavior.

  Knutson has received Young Investigator Awards from the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression, the Association for Behavioral Medicine Research, the American Psychiatric Association, and the New York Academy of Science. He received BA degrees in experimental psychology and comparative religion from Trinity University, a PhD in experimental psychology from Stanford, and has conducted postdoctoral research in affective neuroscience at UC-San Francisco and at the National Institutes of Health.

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  James R. Doty, MD

  Director and Founder, CCARE
  Adjunct Professor of Neurosurgery, Stanford University

  James R. Doty, MD has been on the faculty of the Stanford University School of Medicine since 1997 in the Neurosurgery Department as a professor and more recently as an adjunct professor. He is also the founder and director of the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education (CCARE) at Stanford, of which His Holiness the Dalai Lama is the founding benefactor. Most recently, his academic focus is on meditation, compassion, and self-compassion for which he has lectured throughout the world.

  Dr. Doty attended U.C. Irvine as an undergraduate, received his medical degree from Tulane University and completed neurosurgery residency at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Dr. Doty served 9 years on active duty in the U.S Army attaining the rank of major. He completed fellowships in pediatric neurosurgery and electroneurophysiology.

  He is an inventor, entrepreneur and philanthropist. He holds multiple patents and is the former CEO of Accuray (ARAY:NASDAQ). Dr. Doty has given support to a number of charitable organizations supporting peace initiatives and providing healthcare throughout the world. Additionally, he has supported research, provided scholarships and endowed chairs at multiple universities.

  He is a consultant to medical device companies and is an operating partner and advisor to venture capital firms. Dr. Doty serves on the Board of a number of non-profits and is the vice-chair of the Charter for Compassion International and the former chair of the Dalai Lama Foundation. He is on the Senior Advisory Board of the Council for the Parliament of the World’s Religions. Dr. Doty serves on the Board of Governors of Tulane University School of Medicine and the President’s Council at Tulane University.

  He is the New York Times bestselling author of Into the Magic Shop: A Neurosurgeon’s Quest to Discovery the Mysteries of the Brain and the Secrets of the Heart now translated into 40 languages. Dr. Doty is also the senior editor of the Oxford Handbook of Compassion Science.

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  Roozbeh Aliabadi, Ph.D.

  Director of Compassion in AI

  Dr. Roozbeh Aliabadi, Ph.D.,  is an entrepreneur, a global thought leader in AI education, an author, and an advocate for ensuring artificial intelligence serves humanity with ethics, empathy, and compassion.

  Dr. Aliabadi is the co-founder and CEO of ReadyAI.org, an organization dedicated to bringing AI education to students in over 150 countries. He is also the co-founder of the World Artificial Intelligence Competition for Youth (WAICY), a global initiative that empowers young minds to solve real-world challenges through AI, fostering creativity, critical thinking, and ethical leadership.

  As an author, Dr. Aliabadi has written extensively on AI’s role in education, including books for educators, parents, and children. His latest work, “Intro to AI for Parents (Pocketbook): A Guide to Sparking Fun and Meaningful Conversations with Your Kids about Artificial Intelligence,” helps families engage in meaningful discussions about AI and its impact. His insights on AI and global affairs have been featured in BBC, The Hill, Wall Street Journal, NIKKEI Asian Review, and USA Today.

  Dr. Aliabadi has delivered keynote addresses at major global conferences, including Web Summit, AI Global Summit, Global Silicon Valley Forum, and the Aspen Forum. His talks explore AI ethics, education, and the future of compassionate AI, bridging the gap between cutting-edge technology and human-centered values.

  His research focuses on the intersection of AI, education, and human-centered technology, particularly emphasizing how AI can enhance social-emotional learning, foster inclusivity in education, and support global digital equity.

  Dr. Aliabadi earned a Ph.D. from Robert Morris University, focusing on AI interventions in education, a Master’s degree in International Political Economy, and a Bachelor’s in Finance and Economics from the University of Pittsburgh. With eight years of service in the U.S. Army Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), he brings a global perspective to the ethical considerations of AI. His expertise in human psychology, education, and geopolitics makes him a leading advocate for AI that empowers and uplifts humanity.

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  Al’ai Alvarez, MD

  Director of Quality Education

  Al’ai Alvarez, MD (@alvarezzzy) is a national leader and educator on wellness, diversity, equity, and Inclusion. He is a member of the inaugural cohort of ambassadors for CCARE’s Applied Compassion Training and has successfully completed various other programs, including the Compassion Cultivation Training and Awakening Humanity at Work.

  • Clinical Associate Professor, Stanford Emergency Medicine (EM)
  • Director of Well-Being, Stanford EM
  • Co-lead, the Human Potential Team, Stanford EM
  • Fellowship Director, Physician Wellness Fellowship, Stanford EM
  • Chair, Physician Wellness Forum, Stanford WellMD/WellPhD
  • Director, Physician Resource Network (PRN) Support Program, Stanford WellMD/WellPhD [Stanford’s peer-to-peer support for faculty and trainees]

  His work focuses on humanizing physician roles as individuals and teams by harnessing the individual human potential in the context of high-performance teams. This includes optimizing the interconnectedness between Process Improvement (Quality and Clinical Operations), Recruitment (Diversity), and Well-being (Inclusion). He is one of the 2021-2022 Faculty Fellows at the Stanford Byers Center for Biodesign.

  Dr. Alvarez was the assistant/associate residency program director (APD) at the Stanford Emergency Medicine Residency Program [2016-2021], focusing on the intersectionality of residency well-being with performance improvement on patient experience, quality and patient safety, diversity, equity and inclusion, and medical education. Dr. Alvarez co-founded and co-chaired the largest diversity mentoring initiative in Emergency Medicine through ACEP and EMRA.

  Dr. Alvarez gives several grand rounds and national/international conference lectures and workshops on relevant topics in self-compassion, physician well-being, and high-performance teams, including increasing leadership capacity and mentorship to enhance diversity and inclusion.

  Dr. Alvarez received the 2019 ACEP DIHE Distance and Impact Award, the 2020 Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM) Academy for Diversity and Inclusion in Emergency Medicine (ADIEM) Outstanding Academician Award, the 2020 CORD Academy for Scholarship in Education in EM Academy Member Award on Teaching and Evaluation, the 2022 John Levin Leadership Award at Stanford Health Care, and the 2024 Physician Leader of the Year of the Sharp Index Awards.

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  Robert Cusick

  Director of Compassion Education

  Robert Cusick is the Director of Compassion Education at CCARE Stanford University and a Co-Founder of the Applied Compassion Training (ACT) that was formerly offered at CCARE Stanford from 2020-2023. He is a Stanford Lecturer and Sr. Certified CCARE instructor and teaches at Stanford University, UCSF, Kaiser Permanente Medical Centers, and in multiple other venues.

  As a long-time meditator and former monastic, Robert ordained in Myanmar (Burma) under the renowned meditation master, Ven. Pa Auk Sayadaw, and studied with him from 2003 – 2012. He has studied in numerous contemplative traditions including Soto Zen while in residence at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, in the Ridhwan School’s Diamond approach with A. H. Almaas (Hameed Ali), and for 27 years in the Insight Meditation tradition with Gil Fronsdal, PhD and a host of others. He provides grief counseling and bereavement support for adults and children at Kara in Palo Alto, where he co-leads men’s grief groups and facilitates retreats for fathers grieving the death of a child.

  Robert sits on the Board of Directors of the Sati Center for Buddhist Studies.

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  James Ehrlich

  Director of Compassionate Sustainability, CCARE

  James Ehrlich is an Entrepreneur in Residence at the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education at Stanford University School of Medicine. Additionally, James is appointed Faculty at Singularity University, Senior Fellow at NASA Ames Research Center, and a White House / OSTP Appointee to a joint taskforce on Regenerative Infrastructure.

  Mr. Ehrlich is also the Founder of ReGen Villages Holding, B.V., a Stanford University spin-off formed in the EU as a Dutch impact-for-profit company, using machine learning software to address the U.N. 17 Sustainable Development Goals, specifically to provide solutions for affordable housing, climate change adaptability, and regenerative resiliency.

  Mr. Ehrlich founded ReGen Villages in 2016, with its patent-pending VillageOS™ operating system software to design and operate bio-regenerative and resilient (self-reliant) neighborhood infrastructure and retrofits, integrating clean water, renewable energy  micro-grids, high-yield organic food, and circular nutritional flows at the neighborhood scale, to promote healthy long-term outcomes for residents and flourishing communities.

  A serial entrepreneur in Silicon Valley for over 25-years, James successfully founded and managed technology and media companies with successful exits. For nearly a decade, Mr. Ehrlich executive produced an award-winning national public broadcasting series based on his case study research of organic and bio-dynamic family farms, that at its apex reached over 35-million homes each week and is also the co-author of a best-selling companion book on Hachette, Organic Living THG (2007).

  James holds a Bachelor of Science from New York University and Master studies in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University. He has won several awards for sustainable design and is a researcher and global lecturer on the topic of regenerative neighborhood development. He has co-authored two (2) U.N. Sustainable Development Goal Platform Briefs (2015/2018) with Prof. Larry Leifer and Chris Ford (AIA) from the Center for Design Research at Stanford University.

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  Alexandra Albinus

  Compassionate Sustainability Course Design Lead

  Alexandra Albinus began her collaboration with James Ehrlich (Director of Compassionate Sustainability at CCARE) in 2021 to establish a series of workshop programs and courses on Design Empathy, specific to themes on regeneration, climate resiliency, and adaptability. Alex creatively shapes custom programs for K12 youth, support for undergraduates and master’s students, executive education for professional growth, and helping to define the Design Empathy Instructor certification program.

  Alex is a trained architect originally from Germany who studied at the University of Applied Science Munich Architecture Department, and then continued her architectural and design studies in Spain at the University of the Bask Country in San Sebastian. Alex then returned to Germany to complete her architectural degree, graduating with a Dipl.-Ing Architecture, and continued in design thinking training to further her teaching skills.

  Alex has worked with professional architectural and design firms to train internal teams on creative collaboration, applying her growing knowledge in climate resiliency and environmental design areas. She moved to Silicon Valley in support of her husband’s post-doc at the Stanford Center for Design Research, while continuing to build her professional design and teaching skills.

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  Neelama Eyres

  Director of Program Development, CCARE

  Neelama Eyres is the Director of Program Development at the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education (CCARE) at Stanford University. She is the Co-Founder of the Applied Compassion Training (ACT) that was formerly offered at CCARE Stanford from 2020-2023.

  For the past 25 years, Neelama has developed and facilitated experiential programs for individuals, groups, and leaders worldwide. She’s trained participants to enact and apply compassion within their organizations, institutions, and communities around the globe. She is the co-author of a personal memoir which details her journey through a Compassionate Divorce.

  Throughout her career, Neelama has provided training, consulting, and executive coaching for organizations including Google, Slack, MetLife, the Alzheimer’s Association, and many more. In addition, she has trained and developed facilitators within corporations, non-profits, and healthcare organizations.

  She is also Co-Founder and Lead Facilitator for The Inner Journey Institute, an educational organization that has offered transformational programs across the United States, Canada, and Europe since 1999. For IJI, she has designed and facilitated highly immersive workshops and facilitator trainings geared towards helping participants embody higher levels of compassion, mindfulness, forgiveness, and personal transformation for themselves, their organizations, and their communities.

  Neelama’s mastery is creating interactive, immersive, and experiential learning environments that allow participants to have a direct and embodied experience of spirituality and compassion. Neelama’s contemplative practice combined with her extensive travels throughout Southeast Asia and India have given her an extraordinary depth of spiritual experience and knowledge of Eastern traditions which, like her studies of Western spirituality, is reflected in all her work.

  To learn more about Neelama visit her website.

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  Daniel Martin, PhD

  Director of Corporate Compassion Education, CCARE

  Dr. Daniel E. Martin is an Associate Professor of Management at California State University, East Bay, and Director of Corporate Compassion Education at the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education (CCARE) at Stanford University. Formerly a Visiting Associate Professor at CCARE, a Visiting Scholar at the Center for the Study of Law & Society at UC Berkeley, Director of Research at the Charter for Compassion a Research Fellow for the U.S. Army Research Institute as well as a Personnel Research Psychologist for the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, he has worked with private, public and non-profit organizations on pre-employment selection, training, and organizational assessment. He has held international appointments at Universidad Juárez Autónoma de Tabasco, Villahermosa, Mexico and The D’Or Institute for Research and Education (IDOR), Rio De Janiero, Brazil.

  Dan holds a Ph.D. in Social and Industrial/Organizational Psychology from Howard University, Washington, D.C., and a BS in Clinical Psychology from San Francisco State, California.

  Dan’s research interests include: compassion, social capital, ethical behavior, racism and prejudice, human resources assessment, religiosity, spirituality and humor. Dan has held TEDxHayward at CSUEB highlighting quantitative efforts in Peace Innovation twice.

  Dan is published in a range of journals including Journal of Business Ethics, Personnel Review, Human Organization, Ethics and Behavior, and the Journal of Applied Psychology. His current research streams investigate the impact of individual differences and ideology on social corporate responsibility and human resources decision making. Other streams involve the impact of ideology on compassion and psychological well-being. His current applied work on the use of untapped social capital to ameliorate social problems serve as a research, skills development and assessment platform. Dan is also the founder and CEO of Arete Science, LLC, which scales interventions and measurable impact in competence and well-being across a wide array of social and individual needs (Business, Leadership, Psychedelics, SUD and more).

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  Jennifer Nadel

  Director of Compassionate Politics, CCARE

  Jennifer Nadel is a pioneer in the emerging field of compassionate politics, working to bring the science and practice of compassion into the political arena. She speaks globally about the transformative power of compassion and provides training to those working in the political arena including at the UN and the UK Houses of Parliament.

  She founded the think tank, Compassion in Politics, together with Matt Hawkins in 2018. It works on a cross-party basis with 100+ politicians in the UK to improve political processes and outcomes and their advice is sought internationally. Their original research is cited in parliament, influences policy, and has led to new legislation being debated. In 2022 she helped establish the Global Compassion Coalition which now has a global reach of millions.

  Jennifer advises and trains grassroots and national campaigns, has run for the UK Parliament, and served on the National Executive Committee of the Green Party. In 2018 she stepped away from party politics to focus on building common ground.

  Her Sunday Times Bestseller, WE: A Manifesto for Women Everywhere, co-authored with Gillian Anderson, is a guide to inner and outer change and a rallying cry to move to a less me-centric society. It was featured on shows including CBS This Morning, The View, Dr Oz, the BBC and ITV. Jennifer continues to provide training based on it.

  Her most recent book, How Compassion can Transform our Politics, Economy and Society, co-edited with Matt Hawkins, has been hailed as a guide to creating a more compassionate world.

  Jennifer is a qualified barrister and award-winning journalist who has broadcast for the BBC. and ITV, from around the world. A regular media commentator, Jennifer speaks internationally at organisations including: Google, Apple, Bloomberg, AOL Build, JP Morgan, the Oxford Union, and at leading universities. American born, she’s currently based in London.

  Request Jennifer Nadel as a Speaker

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  Emma Seppala, PhD

  Science Director, CCARE

  Emma Seppala, PhD is Science Director of the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education at Stanford University. Her areas of research include positive organizational psychology, health psychology, and cultural psychology. In particular her research has focused on well-being, compassion, social connection and mind-body practices.

  She is a frequent contributor to Harvard Business Review, Psychology Today, The Huffington Post, and Scientific American Mind. She also consults with Fortune 500 leaders and employees on building a positive organization and is the author of an upcoming book on the science of success, The Happiness Track, published by HarperOne (January 2016). She is the founder and editor-in-chief of Fulfillment Daily, a news site dedicated to the science of happiness.

  Dr. Seppala’s research has been cited in numerous television and news outlets including ABC News and The New York Times  and she is quoted in books such as Congressman Tim Ryan’s Mindful Nation . Her research on mind-body practices for military veterans with trauma was highlighted in a documentary called Free the Mind by award-winning filmmaker Phie Ambo. She is the recipient of a number of research grants and service awards including the James W. Lyons Award from Stanford University, where she helped found Stanford’s first academic class on the psychology of happiness and taught many well-being programs for Stanford students.

  Dr. Seppala received a BA in Comparative Literature from Yale University, a Master’s Degree in East Asian Languages and Cultures from Columbia University, and a PhD in Psychology from Stanford University. She completed her postdoctoral studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison with Dr. Richard Davidson. Originally from Paris, France, she speaks five languages: French, English, German, Spanish and Mandarin Chinese. Outside of her experiences in the US, she has worked in France and China.

  For more, see her website.

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  Kunal Sood

  Director of Compassionate Social Impact, CCARE

  Kunal Sood is a world-renowned impact entrepreneur, family business executive, and award-winning disruptive innovator. Kunal is currently at Sudtrac Linkages where he serves to take the family-owned company to the next level while pursuing his passion for leveraging exponential tech and leadership to transform our world for a better future at X Impact Ventures.

  He is the founder of We The Planet and also serves as Chief Impact Officer at the Chopra Foundation. From serving in the slums of Mumbai with Harvard to building global movements at the United Nations in New York with world leaders, global citizens, and iconic artists, Sood is on a mission to make the impossible possible.

  Forbes spotlighted him as a global movement builder given his extraordinary work as the founding curator for TEDx at the United Nations. He is a TED Resident, an Innovation Fellow at Columbia University, and an Executive Fellow at the Indian School of Business. Sood serves as a Global Ambassador for the Non-Violence Project, Singularity University, and OpenEXO. Sood has a lifelong love for learning having earned several master’s degrees that include an M.B.A., from Kellogg at Northwestern University and an M.A.P.P./M.Phil., from the University of Pennsylvania.

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  Monica Worline, PhD

  Research Scientist, CCARE
  Organizational Psychologist and Founder and CEO of EnlivenWork

  Monica Worline, PhD is an organizational psychologist and founder and CEO of EnlivenWork, an innovation organization that teaches businesses and others how to tap into courageous thinking, compassionate leadership, and the curiosity to bring their best work to life. Monica is an award-winning teacher and an interdisciplinary scholar who has served on the faculty of Goizueta Business School at Emory University and on the faculties of the Paul Merage School of Business at the University of California Irvine and the UC Irvine School of Social Ecology.

  Monica’s writing has been featured in publications such as Harvard Business Review, Chicago Tribune, and BizEd Magazine and her research has been published in peer-reviewed journals such as Administrative Science Quarterly and Organization Science. She authored the book Awakening Compassion at Work and is a founding member of the CompassionLab, the world’s leading research collaboratory focused on compassion at work.

  Monica completed her doctoral work in organizational psychology at the University of Michigan and is a member of the Positive Organizational Scholarship community housed in the Ross School of Business. She earned her BA with distinction and honors at Stanford University, where her emphasis on humanities continues to provide a strong foundation for her unique blend of critical thinking and creativity.

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Featured Videos

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  Jane Dutton and Monica Worline: Thought Leadership Showcase

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  New Perspectives on Compassion Across the Disciplines – Part 1

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  Conversations on Compassion with Emma Seppala, PhD

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  Power of Compassion & Importance of the Work of CCARE

View More >>

Videos from Conferences

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  Hayward TEDx Talk by Emma Seppala

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  Sacramento TEDx Talk by James Doty

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  Sacramento TEDx Talk by Emma Seppala

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  Golden Gate TEDx Talk by James Doty

View More >>

Speaker Series

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  Meng-Wu Lecture: Prof. Dr. Tania Singer

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  Conversations on Compassion with The Venerable Tenzin Priyadarshi

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  Conversations on Compassion with Dr. Scilla Elworthy

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  Conversations on Compassion with Dr. Shauna Shapiro

View More >>

James Doty, MD

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  Social Connection, Compassion, and Youth Mental Health

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  From Fear to Love | The Power of Compassion

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  2019 Compassion Revolution Conference: Dr. James Doty

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  Engage Webinar with Dr. James Doty

View More >>

CCARE Staff

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  Experiential Design Empathy

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  Jane Dutton and Monica Worline: Thought Leadership Showcase

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  Talk By Emma Seppala, Ph.D., on Veteran Health & Well-Being at Facebook Headquarters

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  Science of Compassion 2012: Origins, Measures, and Interventions – Erika Rosenberg, Ph.D.

View More >>

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  This Provocative New Approach to Giving Can Help You Save More Lives with Your Money

  Written by Colby Itkowitz. A severely malnourished Somali child receives Oral Rehydration Salts (O.R.S.) at Mogadishu’s Banadir hospital on July 28, 2011, where an estimated 3.7 million people– around a third of the population — are on the brink of sta …

  Read More >>

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  Proof that Positive Work Cultures are More Productive

  Written by Emma Seppala & Kim Cameron. Too many companies bet on having a cut-throat, high-pressure, take-no-prisoners culture to drive their financial success. But a large and growing body of research on positive organizational psychology demonstr …

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  More Awesome TED Talks on Positive Psychology

  Written by Nico Rose. For those of you that can’t get enough of Positive Psychology-related TED talks – I’ve found some (more or less) new stuff for you. This list comprises Lea Waters, who focuses on the application of Positive Psychology in the field …

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  Explaining the ‘Empathy Gap’ in Our Reactions to Paris and Beirut

  Written by Carolyn Gregoire. After a coordinated series of horrific terrorist attacks in Paris left at least 129 people dead and 352 wounded on Friday, the world joined together in collective grief and mourning. The attacks — the deadliest in France si …

  Read More >>

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  Searching for Characters

  Written by Alisa Solomon. When Anna Deavere Smith was awarded a National Humanities Medal in 2012 by President Obama, the citation lauded how “she has informed our understanding of social issues” by conveying “a range of disparate characters.” Through …

  Read More >>

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  Louisville Innovation Summit Brings Together 500 Executives and Entrepreneurs Focused on the Future of Aging Care, Oct 14-15

  Written by Laura Beck. In two weeks, the Louisville Innovation Summit will gather 500 executives and entrepreneurs from around the country focused on the Future of Aging Care. More than 70 industry visionaries will speak on topics ranging from Aging In …

  Read More >>

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  New Books by Stanford Authors Rethink Healing and Happiness

  Written by Clifton Parker. Scholars at the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education have written new books that encourage people to think differently about healing and happiness. JAMES DOTY, for instance, argues that true healing is bo …

  Read More >>

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  The Neurology of Lending

  Written by Wray Herbert. Back in 1976 a young professor in Bangladesh starting making dubious low-interest loans to the rural poor of his country. Muhammad Yunus had the crazy idea that even impoverished farmers — men and women without credit history o …

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  A New Understanding of the Power of Compassion

  Written by Rylie Ortiz. Compassion is not always championed as relevant currency in today’s secular society, where material success and achievement often rule ahead of human virtues and social consciousness. Compassion has long been a central tenet in …

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  This Buddhist Monk Has Unlocked the Secret to Happiness, and it May Help Us Save the Environment

  Written by Carolyn Gregoire. Matthieu Ricard has lived many lives. As a young student in Paris during the late 1960s, he was writing his dissertation in biochemistry at the prestigious Institute Pasteur. Five years later, guided by an inner stirring to …

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  A Birthday Gift for the Dalai Lama — Global Compassion Education

  Written by Emily Hine. The Dalai Lama’s 80th Birthday Wish Is That We All Live #WithCompassion. While I love his wish, I say let’s take it a step further: Let’s give His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, the gift of global compassion education by mainstreaming …

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  Bringing Compassion to Everyday Life with Compassion Cultivation Training (CCT)

  Written by Leah Weiss. Many of us are called to make the world a better place, but it isn’t necessarily clear where to start. We want to respond to the big and small suffering in our communities and the larger world but it isn’t straightforward how to …

  Read More >>

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  Stressing Out? Good for You!

  Written by Angela Hill. Kelly McGonigal nearly succumbed to the stress of grad school, had she not begun to dance with it instead. The tango, actually. It was 2000, and she’d just finished her first grueling year at Stanford. She’d aced her courses but …

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  Anger: the Most Evil Emotion or a Natural Impulse?

  Written by Becky Bach. Anger isn’t good for your health. It spikes your heart rate, exacerbating heart conditions and anxiety. It leaves an ugly residue, a sensation of unease and aggression and it can lead to violence against others or oneself. But in …

  Read More >>

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  Compassion is a Wise and Effective Managerial Strategy, Stanford Expert Says

  Written by Clifton B. Parker. Compassion is a better managerial approach than toughness in today’s workplace, writes a Stanford psychologist in a new article. In fact, trying to make employees fearful and punish them for mistakes is typically counterpr …

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  6 Questions for Lloyd Dean ‒ President and CEO of Dignity Health

  Written by Dan Munro. The bio for Lloyd Dean on the Dignity Health website is fairly standard and  relatively austere. Mr. Dean is the president/CEO of Dignity Health. With over 20 years in health care operations and leadership experience, Mr. Dean is …

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  Why Compassion is a Better Managerial Tactic Than Toughness

  Written by Emma Seppala. Stanford University neurosurgeon Dr. James Doty tells the story of performing surgery on a little boy’s brain tumor. In the middle of the procedure, the resident who is assisting him gets distracted and accidentally pierces a v …

  Read More >>

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  Dr. James R. Doty: What is a Life of Meaning?

  Written by Nicolae Tanase. Nicolae Tanase: Dr. Doty, what is the meaning of life? James R. Doty: I will rephrase the question to ask what is a life of meaning? At the end of our days, one wishes that what we have done in our lives will live on beyond o …

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  From Suffering to Compassion: Meditation Teacher-Author Sharon Salzberg Shares Her Story

  Written by Becky Bach. Mediatation master and author Sharon Salzberg showed her recent Stanford audience that she could field even the toughest questions about the nature of compassion. “What about the beheadings in the Middle East?” one audience membe …

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  Compassion Meditation Reduces ‘Mind-Wandering,’ Stanford Research Shows

  Written by Clifton B. Parker. The practice of compassion meditation may be a powerful antidote to a drifting mind, new Stanford research shows. Compassion meditation focuses on benevolent thoughts toward oneself and others, as the researchers noted. It …

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  Changing the World and Ourselves Through Compassion

  Written by Jill Stark. Be kind and you will be well. It has been the cornerstone of Eastern philosophy for centuries. But what if recognising our shared humanity was more than just a sentimental ideal? What if consciously practising kindness could chan …

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  The Definitive Case for Being a More Compassionate Boss

  Written by Lisa Evans. During a late-night TV binge, I landed on Hell’s Kitchen. Watching celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay spit out fiery insults at his apprentice chefs—a tactic he justified as helping them to improve their skills in the kitchen—I laughed …

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  The Power of Breath in Post-War Healing

  Written by Kristine Crane. Breathing is the first and last thing we do in life, but most of us take the breath for granted – unless we are scared, angry or winded. Some veterans throughout the country are using their breath to overcome wartime trauma. …

  Read More >>

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  Rx for Better Health Care: Kindness and Compassion

  Written by Kathleen Doheny. (HealthDay News) — Want to give health care a boost? Try a little kindness, experts say. Various studies suggest that when health care workers approach patients with compassion, patients often heal faster, have less pain and …

  Read More >>

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  Compassion is Often the Best Medicine: Stanford Study

  Want to give healthcare a boost? Try a little kindness, experts say. Various studies suggest that when health care workers approach patients with compassion, patients often heal faster, have less pain and anxiety, and even bounce back faster from commo …

  Read More >>

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