Keynote Speaker - "Science, Religion and Spirituality in Global Perspective"
Elaine Howard Ecklund, PhD
Rice University
Elaine Howard Ecklund is the Herbert S. Autrey Chair Professor of Sociology and Director of The Religion and Public Life Program at Rice University, where she is also a Rice Scholar at the Baker Institute for Public Policy. An expert on institutional change, Ecklund is a sociologist who examines how individuals bring changes to religious, scientific and medical institutions.
Ecklund is the author of three books, many research articles, and numerous op-eds. She has received 5 million dollars in grants and awards from organizations including the National Science Foundation, Russell Sage Foundation, John Templeton Foundation, and Society for the Scientific Study of Religion. Her latest book, Science vs. Religion: What Scientists Really Think, was chosen by Times Higher Education as an international book of the week and named a book of the year on religion by the Huffington Post. Her research has been covered in national and international news media, including USA Today, Nature, the Wall Street Journal and Xinhua News.
She received a Ph.D. in 2004 from Cornell University, where she was the recipient of the Class of 2004 Graduate Student Baccalaureate Award for Academic Excellence and Community Service. Ecklund teaches classes at the graduate and undergraduate levels on research methods, immigration, sociology of science, classical sociological theory, and sociology of religion, In 2011 she was named among the top five percent of junior faculty teachers at Rice University and in 2013 received the Charles Duncan Award for most Outstanding Academic Achievement.
Over the next several years Ecklund's research will explore how scientists in several national and regional contexts understand religion, ethics, and gender. In addition, through a cooperative project with the American Association for the Advancement of Science Dialogue on Science, Ethics and Religion program , she is examining how four different U.S. religious groups understand science. Her forthcoming book is titled, Beyond the Ideal Scientist and examines how women and men at elite research universities negotiate careers as academic scientists alongside family life.
Featured Speakers
Farr Curlin, MD
Josiah C. Trent Professor of Medical Humanities
Trent Center for Bioethics, Humanities and History of Medicine
Co-Director, Theology, Medicine and Culture Initiative at Duke Divinity School
Farr Curlin, MD, is Josiah C. Trent Professor of Medical Humanities in the Trent Center for Bioethics, Humanities and History of Medicine, and Co-Director of the Theology, Medicine and Culture Initiative at Duke Divinity School. Before moving to Duke in 2014, he founded and was Co-Director of the Program on Medicine and Religion at the University of Chicago. At Duke, Dr. Curlin practices palliative medicine and works with colleagues in the Trent Center and the Divinity School to develop opportunities for education and scholarship at the intersection of theology, medicine and culture. He has authored more than one hundred articles and book chapters dealing with the moral and spiritual dimensions of medical practice. Dr. Curlin’s work focuses on the relevance of religious ideas and practices for the doctor-patient relationship, the moral and professional formation of clinicians, and care for patients at the end of life.
Josiah C. Trent Professor of Medical Humanities
Trent Center for Bioethics, Humanities and History of Medicine
Co-Director, Theology, Medicine and Culture Initiative at Duke Divinity School
Farr Curlin, MD, is Josiah C. Trent Professor of Medical Humanities in the Trent Center for Bioethics, Humanities and History of Medicine, and Co-Director of the Theology, Medicine and Culture Initiative at Duke Divinity School. Before moving to Duke in 2014, he founded and was Co-Director of the Program on Medicine and Religion at the University of Chicago. At Duke, Dr. Curlin practices palliative medicine and works with colleagues in the Trent Center and the Divinity School to develop opportunities for education and scholarship at the intersection of theology, medicine and culture. He has authored more than one hundred articles and book chapters dealing with the moral and spiritual dimensions of medical practice. Dr. Curlin’s work focuses on the relevance of religious ideas and practices for the doctor-patient relationship, the moral and professional formation of clinicians, and care for patients at the end of life.
Rabbi Samuel E. Karff
Rabbi Emeritus, Houston's Congregation Beth Israel
Plenary Speaker for Interreligious Panel
Rabbi Samuel E. Karff became Rabbi Emeritus of Congregation Beth Israel in May 1999 after serving his congregation for twenty-four years as Senior Rabbi. As the founder of the “Health and Human Spirit” program at UT Health, Rabbi Karff served as an Associate Professor of Society and Health, teaching medical students the emotional and spiritual aspects of healing, where he co-created the Sacred Vocation Program for healthcare workers at every level. Rabbi Karff also served as a lecturer in the Department of Religious Studies at Rice University from 1977 to 2001.
Rabbi Karff received an A. B. degree Magna Cum Laude from Harvard College and earned a doctorate from Hebrew Union College, the seminary which ordained him. He has lectured extensively in this country and abroad and he was featured for many years on a weekly Houston radio program that attracted listeners from many religious traditions. Rabbi Karff spent several years as an Air Force Chaplain and served congregations in Massachusetts, Alabama, Connecticut, Michigan and Illinois, as well as Texas.
Rabbi Karff’s new book, published in September, 2015 is titled: “For This You were Created-Memoir of an American Rabbi.” His other books include “Agada: The Language of the Jewish Faith”, “The Soul of the Rav” and “Permission to Believe: Finding Faith in Troubled Times.”
Rabbi Karff is an Emeritus member of the Institute for Spirituality and Health, and he serves on The Coalition for Mutual Respect, Anti-Defamation League; and he is a former Executive Committee member and Board trustee for the United Way Texas Gulf Coast.
Rabbi Emeritus, Houston's Congregation Beth Israel
Plenary Speaker for Interreligious Panel
Rabbi Samuel E. Karff became Rabbi Emeritus of Congregation Beth Israel in May 1999 after serving his congregation for twenty-four years as Senior Rabbi. As the founder of the “Health and Human Spirit” program at UT Health, Rabbi Karff served as an Associate Professor of Society and Health, teaching medical students the emotional and spiritual aspects of healing, where he co-created the Sacred Vocation Program for healthcare workers at every level. Rabbi Karff also served as a lecturer in the Department of Religious Studies at Rice University from 1977 to 2001.
Rabbi Karff received an A. B. degree Magna Cum Laude from Harvard College and earned a doctorate from Hebrew Union College, the seminary which ordained him. He has lectured extensively in this country and abroad and he was featured for many years on a weekly Houston radio program that attracted listeners from many religious traditions. Rabbi Karff spent several years as an Air Force Chaplain and served congregations in Massachusetts, Alabama, Connecticut, Michigan and Illinois, as well as Texas.
Rabbi Karff’s new book, published in September, 2015 is titled: “For This You were Created-Memoir of an American Rabbi.” His other books include “Agada: The Language of the Jewish Faith”, “The Soul of the Rav” and “Permission to Believe: Finding Faith in Troubled Times.”
Rabbi Karff is an Emeritus member of the Institute for Spirituality and Health, and he serves on The Coalition for Mutual Respect, Anti-Defamation League; and he is a former Executive Committee member and Board trustee for the United Way Texas Gulf Coast.
Dr. Uma Mysorekar
The Hindu Temple Society of North America
Plenary Speaker for Interreligious Panel
Dr. Uma Mysorekar, a successful Gynecologist & Oncologist since 1970, has been associated with the Hindu Temple Society of North America, a pioneer Hindu religious institution in this continent, since 1970, as a Trustee of the Society from 1989 and as the President of the Society since 1994. She spends all the seven days of the week in the service of Lord Ganesa. Under her able leadership, the Temple has been transformed into a premier center of religious worship and the Society into a prominent cultural and social organization.
Her contribution in the creation and preservation of the Community Center of the Society, Senior Center, Staff Quarters and preparation of the blue print/plans for several development and expansion projects and their execution is considerable. The Society’s programs, religious, cultural and social, have uniquely attracted the attention of the Heads of the States of USA, India and the United Nations. She has been associated with several social organizations like the Heart and Hand for the Handicapped as its President(1978-79), Vice President and Committee member (since 1976) and in those positions was responsible for organizing events and fundraising for handicapped children in New York and in India, Kannada Koota (an organization of one of the linguistic groups of South India interested in promoting the literary and artistic expressions of the ‘Kannada’ speaking people in North America) as its President (1987). However, her service to Lord Ganesa and the Hindu Temple has been by far the closest to her heart.
The Hindu Temple Society of North America
Plenary Speaker for Interreligious Panel
Dr. Uma Mysorekar, a successful Gynecologist & Oncologist since 1970, has been associated with the Hindu Temple Society of North America, a pioneer Hindu religious institution in this continent, since 1970, as a Trustee of the Society from 1989 and as the President of the Society since 1994. She spends all the seven days of the week in the service of Lord Ganesa. Under her able leadership, the Temple has been transformed into a premier center of religious worship and the Society into a prominent cultural and social organization.
Her contribution in the creation and preservation of the Community Center of the Society, Senior Center, Staff Quarters and preparation of the blue print/plans for several development and expansion projects and their execution is considerable. The Society’s programs, religious, cultural and social, have uniquely attracted the attention of the Heads of the States of USA, India and the United Nations. She has been associated with several social organizations like the Heart and Hand for the Handicapped as its President(1978-79), Vice President and Committee member (since 1976) and in those positions was responsible for organizing events and fundraising for handicapped children in New York and in India, Kannada Koota (an organization of one of the linguistic groups of South India interested in promoting the literary and artistic expressions of the ‘Kannada’ speaking people in North America) as its President (1987). However, her service to Lord Ganesa and the Hindu Temple has been by far the closest to her heart.
Aasim Padela, MD, MSc
The University of Chicago
Plenary Speaker for Interreligious Panel
Director of the Initiative on Islam and Medicine
Assistant Professor of Medicine, Sections of Emergency Medicine and General Internal Medicine
Faculty, MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics
Dr. Padela is an emergency medicine physician, health services researcher, and bioethicist whose scholarship focuses on the intersection of community health, religious tradition, and bioethics.
His empirical research assesses how religion-related factors impact health behaviors and outcomes among American Muslims, and influences the practice of American Muslim physicians. As a fellow at the non-partisan think-tank the Institute for Social Policy & Understanding and in conjunction with several Muslim community organizations, these data are mobilized towards culturally-tailored healthcare interventions and policy recommendations.
Dr. Padela's bioethics scholarship explores the ways in which the Islamic tradition and its authorities assess modern biomedicine and biotechnology. A key focus of this research involves exploring how scientific data and ways of knowing can work in concert with traditional Islamic moral reasoning and theology to develop a comprehensive, holistic, and theologically-rooted Islamic bioethics. Towards this end he collaborates with traditional Islamic jurisconsults and Islamic bioethics researchers around the world and co-directed a landmark multidisciplinary conference entitled Where Religion, Bioethics, and Policy Meet: An Interdisciplinary Conference on Islamic Bioethics and End-of-Life Care .
Dr. Padela completed undergraduate degrees in Biomedical Engineering and Classical Arabic & Literature at the University of Rochester, earned a medical degree from Weill Cornell Medical College, and obtained emergency medicine training at the University of Rochester. From 2008-2011, Dr. Padela was a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholar at the University of Michigan, where he led a program of community-based participatory research studying American Muslim health behaviors and healthcare challenges. In 2010, he was a Visiting Fellow at the Centre of Islamic Studies at Oxford University working on projects related to Islamic moral and theological ethical frameworks. And from 2013 to 2014 he is a Templeton Foundation Faculty Scholar conducting a national survey of Muslim physicians’ bioethical attitudes and experiences with religious discrimination.
Dr. Padela's scholarship has been featured in multiple media outlets including CNN, the New York Times, the USA Today, the Chicago Tribune, The National, and others.
The University of Chicago
Plenary Speaker for Interreligious Panel
Director of the Initiative on Islam and Medicine
Assistant Professor of Medicine, Sections of Emergency Medicine and General Internal Medicine
Faculty, MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics
Dr. Padela is an emergency medicine physician, health services researcher, and bioethicist whose scholarship focuses on the intersection of community health, religious tradition, and bioethics.
His empirical research assesses how religion-related factors impact health behaviors and outcomes among American Muslims, and influences the practice of American Muslim physicians. As a fellow at the non-partisan think-tank the Institute for Social Policy & Understanding and in conjunction with several Muslim community organizations, these data are mobilized towards culturally-tailored healthcare interventions and policy recommendations.
Dr. Padela's bioethics scholarship explores the ways in which the Islamic tradition and its authorities assess modern biomedicine and biotechnology. A key focus of this research involves exploring how scientific data and ways of knowing can work in concert with traditional Islamic moral reasoning and theology to develop a comprehensive, holistic, and theologically-rooted Islamic bioethics. Towards this end he collaborates with traditional Islamic jurisconsults and Islamic bioethics researchers around the world and co-directed a landmark multidisciplinary conference entitled Where Religion, Bioethics, and Policy Meet: An Interdisciplinary Conference on Islamic Bioethics and End-of-Life Care .
Dr. Padela completed undergraduate degrees in Biomedical Engineering and Classical Arabic & Literature at the University of Rochester, earned a medical degree from Weill Cornell Medical College, and obtained emergency medicine training at the University of Rochester. From 2008-2011, Dr. Padela was a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholar at the University of Michigan, where he led a program of community-based participatory research studying American Muslim health behaviors and healthcare challenges. In 2010, he was a Visiting Fellow at the Centre of Islamic Studies at Oxford University working on projects related to Islamic moral and theological ethical frameworks. And from 2013 to 2014 he is a Templeton Foundation Faculty Scholar conducting a national survey of Muslim physicians’ bioethical attitudes and experiences with religious discrimination.
Dr. Padela's scholarship has been featured in multiple media outlets including CNN, the New York Times, the USA Today, the Chicago Tribune, The National, and others.
Morgan J. Wills, MD, MA, FACP
Siloam Family Health Center
Plenary Speaker for Interreligious Panel
Dr. Morgan Wills is the President and CEO of Siloam Family Health Center, a nonprofit Christian health care ministry in Nashville, Tennessee. Dr. Wills also serves as Siloam's senior internist, overseeing an interdisciplinary team caring for roughly 5,000 uninsured patients annually, 88% of whom are foreign-born immigrants or refugees coming from 77 countries.
Dr. Wills is the founding Director of the Siloam Institute of Faith, Health and Culture, a community-based educational initiative offering training in Christian approaches to health care for the poor to dozens of students each year. He also serves as clinical faculty member at Vanderbilt University Medical School, where he has taught about the practical dimensions of cross-cultural health care and medicine/spirituality in multiple classroom contexts. A member of Alpha Omega Alpha medical honor society, he has won multiple teaching awards for his work as an educator, has served as a part-time attending physician at the Nashville VA Medical Center, and has directed service learning mission trips for more than 300 students on four continents.
Morgan earned his B.A. in history at Princeton University (1990) and M.D. at Vanderbilt Medical School (1996) before completing his residency in Internal Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (2000). He was inducted as a Fellow of the American College of Physicians in 2006 and completed a Master of Arts in Theological Studies at Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia (2013).
Siloam Family Health Center
Plenary Speaker for Interreligious Panel
Dr. Morgan Wills is the President and CEO of Siloam Family Health Center, a nonprofit Christian health care ministry in Nashville, Tennessee. Dr. Wills also serves as Siloam's senior internist, overseeing an interdisciplinary team caring for roughly 5,000 uninsured patients annually, 88% of whom are foreign-born immigrants or refugees coming from 77 countries.
Dr. Wills is the founding Director of the Siloam Institute of Faith, Health and Culture, a community-based educational initiative offering training in Christian approaches to health care for the poor to dozens of students each year. He also serves as clinical faculty member at Vanderbilt University Medical School, where he has taught about the practical dimensions of cross-cultural health care and medicine/spirituality in multiple classroom contexts. A member of Alpha Omega Alpha medical honor society, he has won multiple teaching awards for his work as an educator, has served as a part-time attending physician at the Nashville VA Medical Center, and has directed service learning mission trips for more than 300 students on four continents.
Morgan earned his B.A. in history at Princeton University (1990) and M.D. at Vanderbilt Medical School (1996) before completing his residency in Internal Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (2000). He was inducted as a Fellow of the American College of Physicians in 2006 and completed a Master of Arts in Theological Studies at Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia (2013).
