Daryl Cameron earned his B.A. in Psychology and Philosophy from the College of William and Mary in 2006, and received his Ph.D. in Social Psychology from UNC Chapel Hill in 2013. Daryl is an Assistant Professor of Social Psychology at the University of Iowa. Daryl has two primary lines of research. First, he focuses on the causes and consequences of compassion. He has shown how our tendency to feel more compassion for one victim than many victims is driven by fear of compassion and emotion regulation. He has also examined how regulating compassion can create its own costs by changing moral identity and moral principles. His other line of research explores the affective dynamics of moral judgment. He has shown how emotional awareness can enable more informed moral decisions, and how automatic and controlled emotional processes interact to shape moral judgments and decisions to help others. His research has been funded by the National Science Foundation.
His Holiness the XIVth Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso
His Holiness the Dalai Lama, is the spiritual and temporal leader of the Tibetan people and recognized worldwide for his advocacy of compassion, peace and interreligious dialogue. He has been a strong supporter of the neurosciences for over two decades. His Holiness is a benefactor of CCARE having personally provided the largest sum he has ever given to scientific research.
For his tireless efforts promoting peace throughout the world, the Dalai Lama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize , in 1989. He was awarded the United States Congressional Gold Medal in October 2007 recognizing his role as one of the world¹s foremost moral and religious leaders using his leadership role to advocate for peace. He has received more than 100 honorary degrees and major awards.
Gary K. Steinberg, MD, PhD
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.
Chade-Meng Tan
Chade-Meng Tan (Meng) is Google’s Jolly Good Fellow (which nobody can deny). His unusual job title started as a joke, but eventually became real.
Meng was one of Google’s earliest engineers. Among many other things, he helped build Google’s first mobile search service, and headed the team that evaluated and kept a vigilant eye on Google’s search quality. After a successful 8-year stint in Engineering, he now serves with Google University, where he is the Head of the School of Personal Growth. One of his main projects is Search Inside Yourself – a Mindfulness-based Emotional Intelligence course, which he hopes will eventually contribute to world peace in a meaningful way.
Chade-Meng Tan, “Jolly Good Fellow” at Google, says his gift to CCARE was motivated by a desire to promote world peace, which “can only happen when people have inner happiness and inner compassion”.
Outside of Google, Meng is the Founder and (Jolly Good) President of the Tan Teo Charitable Foundation, a small foundation dedicated to promoting Peace, Liberty and Enlightenment in the world. He is also a Founding Patron of Stanford University’s Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education (CCARE).
Meng earned his MS in Computer Science from the University of California at Santa Barbara. He went to Santa Barbara mainly for the beach, but didn’t mind the graduate degree either. He has won many computing-related awards, including the Championship of Singapore’s National Software Competition. Prior to coming to the United States, Meng had a successful engineering career in Singapore. (He knew it was successful because nobody offered to fire him).
Meng created one of the world’s earliest websites on Buddhism in 1995. He considers himself a Buddhist “on most weekdays, especially Mondays”. He is an avid meditator, because meditation facilitates in him inner peace and happiness “without doing real work”. Meng occasionally found himself featured on the New York Times and other newspapers. His personal motto is, “Life is too important to be taken seriously”.
Meng hopes to see every workplace in the world become a drinking fountain for happiness and enlightenment. When Meng grows up, he wants to save the world, and have lots of fun and laughter doing it. He feels if something is no laughing matter, it’s probably not worth doing.
Brian A. Wandell, PhD
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.
James R. Doty, MD
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.
Laura Roberts, MD
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.
Yotam Heineberg, PsyD
Dr. Heineberg is a clinical supervisor for therapists in training and lecturer for Palo Alto University, as well as Applied Psychological Interventions Associate at CCARE. His work is informed by his training in Compassion Focused Therapy and evidence based principles to explore new routes towards healing via compassion practices. Dr. Heineberg’s passion has been finding effective methods for healing the cycle of violence with compassion. With collaborators Drs. Rony Berger and Philip Zimbardo, he has been implementing “ERASE-Stress-Pro-Social”, a school-based, teacher mediated program that reduces post traumatic distress and increases pro social engagement in warzones and inner cities. They have recently completed data collection on an international project to examine the processes of heroic transformation from violence to peacemaker among former gang members, and Israeli and Palestinian former combatants who now work to make peace in their communities. These pilots will inform future compassion trainings in school systems worldwide. Dr. Heineberg is also passionate about scalable technology based interventions to increase wellbeing and compassion. He recently developed VBT (Values and Behavior Tracking), a web based program that emphasizes a healing integration of positive values with kind behaviors. He also works with his collaborator Dr. Dan Martin in order to develop additional technology tools to increase wellbeing and pro-sociality in a variety of settings, ranging from clinical populations, to school systems and workplace environments. Dr. Heineberg earned his undergraduate degree in psychology and comparative literature at Tel Aviv University. He completed his doctorate in clinical psychology at the PGSP-Stanford consortium focusing on the cycle of violence, trauma and aggression, and applied scalable interventions to increase psychological wellbeing, and compassion for self and others. He recently completed his post-doctoral fellowship with CCARE, where he has focused his energy on developing compassion interventions, as well as leading the Stanford Compassion In Action student volunteer initiative in East Palo Alto.
Romi Chiorean
Romi Chiorean shares his time between art studio practice and filmmaking. He has studied fine art and photography since his youth and entered the field of filmmaking over ten years ago. Romi studied Ceramics and Painting at the Academy of Art and Design in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, Art Restoration and Computer Graphics at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City and Cinematography at the American Film Institute Conservatory in Los Angeles. Romi has a long standing interest in the subconscious mind and representation of mental activity that cannot always be expressed in words but is commonplace in visual art and music. Besides his work for CCARE, Romi provides video services for a number of Silicon Valley companies such as Cloudera, LucidWorks, Mirantis and a number of startups.
Christopher Wesselman
Chris’ diverse background includes degrees in Finance & Slavic Languages from the University of Pennsylvania and professional experience in international banking and investor relations. He has been a small business owner, an entrepreneur/consultant, and has worked in high tech with Apple & Stanford. Chris has been a formal student of Zen Buddhism since 1997, and hopes to complete his lay ordination (Jukai) in 2013. He would like to broaden his lifelong interest in compassion and mindfulness, and how to successfully apply these transformational concepts in everyday life.
Chris’ interest in photography dates back to his first cameras, a Kodak Brownie and a hand-me-down Leica from his mother. He has had a keen interest in documentary and travel photography, though his recent focus has been on non-profit organizations working for positive change. These volunteering efforts have included CCARE, the Gyuto Vajrayana Center, the Vajrapani Institute, TeachAIDS, Zen Heart Sangha, and his alma mater Dunn School (where he serves on the Board of Trustees). He is also a pro bono photographer for Stanford’s Ho Center for Buddhist Studies, as well as the School of Education where he has provided technology & computer support for the last 10 years.
Philip Zimbardo, PhD
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.
Wayne Wu
Mr. Wayne Wu is the founder, CEO, & President of Pacific Health Investment Inc., a company that specializes in life sciences investment. Mr. Wu currently serves on the board of Accuray Incorporated (Nasdaq:ARAY), a company that designs, manufactures, and distributes CyberKnife robotic radiosurgery system for tumor treatment. Mr. Wu has served as a member of Accuray Incorporated board of directors since April 1998 and was their Chairman between May 2004 and April 2010. Mr. Wu is also on the Board of a number of privately held corporations including: Green Tree Investment Company which owns and operates a chain of upscale budget business hotel in the People’s Republic of China; Synaptic Medical International, a company that designs, manufactures and distributes EP catheters for treatment of cardiac arrhythmias with headquarters in Beijing, China; WaveSense, Inc., a company that designs, manufactures and distributes patented disposable biological separations technologies; and O2 Medtech, Inc., a company that uses PMS technology for cerebral oximetry.
Prior to Pacific Health Investment, Inc, Mr. Wu co-founded Pacific Republic Capital Group in February 1998, a venture capital fund that specialized in real estate and life sciences investment. From February 1998 through May 2005 Mr. Wu was the fund’s co-manager and presided over the Board of various investee companies including: Accuray Incorporated; Aurora Imaging Technology, Inc.; and Sandpoint Design, Inc. Aurora Imaging Technology, Inc. designs, manufactures and distributes the only U.S. FDA approved dedicated breast MRI system. Mr. Wu was the Executive Vice President and a member of board of directors of Aurora Imaging Technology, Inc. from September 1999 to August 2004. Sandpoint Design, Inc. was the designer, manufacturer and distributor of high performance carbon fiber bicycles. Mr. Wu was a member of the board and later the Chairman of Sandpoint Design, Inc until May 2005. Prior to founding Pacific Republic Capital Group Mr. Wu was the Special Assistant to the Chairman and CEO of Preferred Bank from August 1997 to February 1998, and a senior loan officer of Sumitomo Trust and Banking Corporation from December 1995 to August 1997. Mr. Wu graduated from National Central University in Taiwan with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mathematics and received his Masters Degree in Mathematics from University of Southern California.
Brian Knutson, PhD
Brian Knutson is an Associate 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.