Program

8.00am – 4.30pm

Registration Open
Location: Atrium South

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8.30am – 10.00am

Keynote Speaker 
Location: Grumman Auditorium

Griefwork as Contemplative Practice: Reframing Mindfulness through Humanistic Inquiry
Anne Vallely (click for bio)
University of Ottawa

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10.00am – 10.30am

Coffee Break
Location: Blueberry Hill

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10.30am – 12.00pm

Room 1 – Panel 1 – Innovations in Resilience Research for Contemplative Science: Opportunities for Optimizing Whole Person Health Restoration
Jennifer Baumgartner, NCIH,
Elissa Epel, University of California,
Emily Lindsay, University of Pittsburgh,
Caitlin Conley, University of Kentucky

Room 2 – Oral Session 1 – Mindfulness Based Interventions
O1.1 Evaluating Complementary and Integrative Health Interventions to Reduce Stress Related Illnesses in African American and Hispanic Populations: A Systematic Review
Raven Wright-Smith, The University of North Carolina

O1.2 Evaluating the effectiveness of mindfulness practice in the general population through personalization – a randomized controlled experiment
Sarah Strohmaier, Victoria University Melbourne

O1.3 Integrating Brief Mindfulness Interventions into Routine Medical Pathways: Pain and Anxiety Relief in the Clinic Waiting Room
Kennedi Childs, Florida State University

O1.4 Longitudinal and Dynamic Associations of Engagement in Mindfulness Training with Emotion Regulation, Mindfulness, and Self-Compassion in Community Adolescents
Megan Moran, Colorado State University

O1.5 A Full Circle Model of Trauma-Informed Communication for Health Care Providers and Patients on the Cancer Journey: Highlighting the Role of Mindfulness
Barbara Ley, University of Delaware

Room 3 – Oral Session 2 – Contemplative Approaches to Learning, Career, and Self-Discovery in Higher Education
O2.1 Cultivating curiosity for well-being: findings from a first year course at a STEM-focused university
Alicia Walf, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

O2.2 Mindfulness and the Arc of Becoming: Cultivating Career Adaptability Through Emotional Intelligence
Hyunhee Kim, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

O2.3 Personal Transformation Through an Undergraduate “Walking Seminar”—A Thematic Analysis and Gallery
Donald Mccown, West Chester University of Pennsylvania

Room 4 – Oral Session 3 – Life, Death, Breath and Knowldge: Buddhist and Daoist Investigations
O3.1 A Thread in the Life-Death Matrix: Revisiting the Garbha Metaphor in Early East-Asian Buddhism
Michel Mohr, University of Hawaii at Manoa

O3.2 Daoist Microcosmic Orbit Meditation (Xiǎo zhōutiān 小周天): Kinesthetic Contemplation as Transformative Epistemic Technique
Steven Geisz, University of Tampa

O3.3 When Breath is not Breath: Daoist Contemplative Perspectives
Larson Di Fiori, Brown University

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12.00pm – 1.30pm

Lunch and Mentor Session (sign up required)
Location: Blueberry Hill

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12.30pm – 1.30pm

Contemplative Practice Session 
Beth Palmer – Expressive Journeys: Therapeutic Engagement with Mixed Media Art

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1.30pm – 3.00pm

Room 1 – Panel 3 – Exploring the Nexus of Life and Death at the Intersection of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Contemplative Traditions and Science
Julian Schott, Vienna University,
Renee Ford, Aarhus University,
Michelle Walsh, Contemplative Practice Lab

Rom 2 – Panel 4 – The emerging science of advanced meditation: Interdisciplinary investigations of advanced meditative absorption, insight, and cessations of consciousness
Matthew Sacchet, Massachusetts General Hospital, Michael Lifshitz, McGill University,
David Zarka, Université Libre de Bruxelles,
Winson Yang, Massachusetts General Hospital, Shawn Prest, Monash University

Room 3 – Panel 5 – Mindfulness and Social Well-Being: It’s More Complicated than We Thought
Polina Beloborodova, University of Wisconsin,
Erika Blair, Virginia Commonwealth University, Daniel Berry, Radford University,
Kirk Warren Brown, Carnegie Mellon University

Room 4 – Oral Session 4 – Mindfulness and Mindful Self-Compassion Interventions
O4.1 Mindful Self-Compassion Decreases Symptoms in Anxiety Disorders and Depression
Elizabeth Hoge, Georgetown University Medical Center

O4.2 Self-critical rumination as a mediator between adverse childhood experiences and therapeutic effects of a mindfulness-based intervention
Diane Joss, Cambridge Health Alliance, Harvard Medical School

O4.3 Uncovering Mechanisms of Change in Compassion-Based Interventions: Is Self-Criticism the Key? A Mediation Meta-Analysis
Aida Palacios, Instituto Polibienestar, University of Valencia

O4.4 What do patients with chronic pain gain from mindfulness interventions? Phenomenological cluster analysis in a clinical trial of Mindfulness-Based Pain Reduction (MBPR)
Wolf Mehling, University of California

Room 5 – Oral Session 5 – Neuroscience & Contemplative Practice
O5.1 Testing the Relationship Between Anxiety, Mindfulness, and Cognitive Control
Resh Gupta, Washington University

O5.2 An Initial Neuroscientific Analysis of Contemplative Sleep Practices
S. Gabriela Torres Platas, Northwestern University

O5.3 Note More Worry Less: Neural and Behavioral Insights into the Noting Technique for Reducing Worry
Lia Antico, Brown University

O5.4 A neurophenomenological case study of an advanced nondual practitioner receiving the psychedelic 5-MeO-DMT for the study of deconstructed consciousness
Christopher Timmermann, University College London

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3.00pm – 4.00pm

Contemplative Practice Session
Rebecca Acabchuk: Tactical Reset

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3.00pm – 4.30pm

Roundtable 1: Rehearsing Death: demystifying and preparing for death and dying in art institutions, spiritual communities, and digital spaces

Roundtable 2: Bridging Inner and Outer Turbulence: The Researcher–Contemplative–Activist in Times of Crisis

Roundtable 3: The Virtue Gap: Rethinking Scientific Ethics Through Personal Virtues and Contemplative Practice

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4.30pm – 6.00pm

Poster Session 1 with cocktails
Sponsored by the Mind and Life Institute 

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7.00am – 8.00am

Contemplative Practice Session
Lama Justin von Bujdoss: Ati Yoga

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8.00am – 4.30pm

Registration Open
Location: Atrium South

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8.30am – 10.00am

Keynote Speaker
Location: Grumman Auditorium

Towards a Developmental Contemplative Science
Robert W. Roeser, PhD (click for bio)
Emory University

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10.00am – 10.30am

Coffee Break
Location: Blueberry Hill

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10.30am – 12.00pm

Room 1 – Panel 6 – From Micro-Practices to Meditation Retreats: Dose-Response Effects of Meditation Training
Yuval Hadash, Carnegie Mellon University,
Simon Goldberg, University of Wisconsin,
Sarah Strohmaier, Victoria University Melbourne,
David Creswell, Carnegie Mellon University,
Nicholas Bowles, University of Melbourne

Room 2 – Panel 7 – Numadelic Virtual Reality as a Medium for Exploring Mortality, Contemplative Practice, and the Neuroscience of Self-Transcendence
Justin Wall, CiTIUS~Centro Singular de Investigación en Tecnoloxías Intelixentes,
Melanie Boly, University of Wisconsin,
Joseph Hardy, Numadelic Labs,
Adam Liddle, University of Virginia

Room 3 – Panel 8 – Curiosity and Openness: Building technologies for transformation
Jesse Flemming, University of Nebraska,
Cassandra Vieten, University of California,
Marjan Sharifi, University of California

Room 4 – Oral Session 6 – Critical and Philosophical Perspectives on Contemplative Practice
O6.1 Zen Buddhism on the Limits of Knowledge and the Practice of Wisdom
Bret Davis, Loyola University Maryland

O6.2 Role of Death Awareness in shaping Human Existence – A Philosophical Inquiry
Ashmeet Kaur, University of Delhi

O6.3 Fractal Epistemology for Past Lives: Hunting the Hidden Dimension
Cai Carvalhaes, Pacifica Graduate Institute

O6.4 The Mindfulness Revolution and Zizek’s Critique
Karsten Struhl, New School for Public Engagement

Room 5 – Oral Session 7 – Contemplative Training in Educational and Clinical Contexts
O7.1 Standards-based approaches to contemplative studies for adolescent learners
Sasha Manu, Pine Street School 

O7.2 The development of emotion regulation competence for in-service teachers through mindfulness-based interventions: a literature review
Dumitrita Margineanu, Babes Bolyai University

O7.3 Understanding Why Healthcare Professionals Attend a Workplace Resiliency Training Program
Phoebe Franco, Dell Children’s Medical Center

O7.4 Healing Historical Trauma among Vietnamese Americans through Contemplation: A Pilot Study of the WEALTH Program
My Ngoc To, Colorado State University

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12.00pm – 1.30pm

Lunch and  AGM (Begins 12.45pm)
Location: Blueberry Hill

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12.30pm – 1.30pm

Contemplative Practice Session
Claudia Wang: Baduanjin (Eight Pieces of Brocade)

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1.30pm – 3.00pm

Room 1 – Panel 9 – Looking Within to Reveal the Mechanisms of Mindfulness Meditation: Internal Attention and Internally-Directed Cognition
Yuval Hadash, Carnegie Mellon University,
Amit Bernstein, University of Wisconsin & University of Haifa,
Sahib Khalsa, University of California,
Norman Farb, University of Toronto

Room 2 – Panel 10 – Yoga and Spirituality: The Underlying Psychophysiology and the Research Evidence in Healthy and Patient Populations
Sat Bir Khalsa, Harvard Medical School,
Crystal Park, University of Connecticut,
Stephanie Sohl, Wake Forest University School of Medicine

Room 3 – Panel 11 – Understanding the Neuroscience of Mindfulness for Migraine and its Importance for the Pipeline through Undergraduate Neuroscience Education
Rebecca Wells, Wake Forest University School of Medicine,
Fadel Zeidan, University of California,
Zev Schuman-Olivier, Cambridge Health Alliance,
Michael Datko, Harvard Medical School,
Licia Grazzi, Fondazione Instituto Neurologico

Room 4 – Oral Session 8 – Moral and Social Dimensions of Contemplative Practice
O8.1 Moral effects of long-term meditation: A large-scale, in-person cross-sectional study of real-world ethical cognition, emotion, and behavior
Kevin Berryman, Monash Centre for Consciousness and Contemplative Studies

O8.2 Beliefs about suffering and responses to hypothetical challenges and real-life intergroup conflict
Christine Lathren, University of North Carolina 

O8.3 Views Regarding Mindfulness-Based Program Participation in Emerging Adults from Different Racial/Ethnic Groups
Christyn Dolbier, East Carolina University

O8.4 Examining Self-Compassion and Subclinical Cardiovascular Disease in Black American Women
Kennedy Blevins, University of California

Room 5 – Oral Session 9 – Religious Studies & Psychology
O9.1 The Defining Line of Life and Death in Buddhist Psychology
Chulthim Gurung, McGill University

O9.2 The Resurrected Self – An Enactive Lens on the Goals of Classical and Contemporary Jewish and Islamic Contemplative Paths
Nathan Fisher, McGill University

O9.3 The Psychology of Tsongkhapa’s Analytical Meditation on Death
Jacob Lindsley, Oregon State University

O9.4 Mother Earth kinship: Centering Indigenous worldviews to address the Anthropocene and rethink the ethics of human-to-nature connectedness
Pilar Gauthier, University of Wisconsin

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3.00pm – 4.00pm

Contemplative Practice Session
Jena Leake: He(art)work: Meeting the Moment with Courage, Creativity and Compassion

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3.00pm – 4.30pm

Roundtable 4: Contemplative Arts / Contemplative Action

Roundtable 5: Connections as Pathways: An Interdisciplinary Dialogue on Heartfelt Confidence

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4.30pm – 6.00pm

Poster Session 2 with cocktails

7.00am – 8.00am

Contemplative Practice Session
Carlos Santiago and Felipe Kalatauma Rosario: Sonya’s Sequence

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8.00am – 4.30pm

Registration Open
Location: Atrium South

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8.30am – 10.00am

Keynote Speaker
Location: Grumman Auditorium

The Arc of Life and Death: Courageous, Contemplative Reflection on Family, Foundation, and Future to Foster Harmony and Well-Being
Cheryl Woods Giscombé, PhD (click for bio)
UNC-Chapel Hill School of Nursing

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10.00am – 10.30am

Coffee Break
Location: Blueberry Hill

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10.30am – 12.00pm

Room 1 – Panel 12 – Psychedelics and the Self: Mechanisms, Methodologies, and Mindfulness
Fadel Zeidan, University of California,
Eric Garland, University of California,
Patrick Finan, University of Virginia,
Luana Colloca, University of Maryland Baltimore

Room 2 – Panel 13 – Nurturing the Mindful Researcher: Integrating Contemplative Practices to Promote Life Giving Cultures in Mindfulness Research
Caitlin Elsaesser, University of Connecticut,
Gio Iacono, University of Connecticut,
Jeffrey Proulx, Brown University,
Vivien Roman-Hampton, University of Connecticut

Room 3 – Panel 14 – Transforming higher education through contemplative practices in diverse settings: From individual classes to institutional change
Jennifer Daubenmier, San Francisco State University,
Yikuan Lee, San Francisco State University,
Andrea Malouf, Salt Lake Community College,
Ranjeeta Basu, California State University

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10.30am – 12.00pm

Contemplative Practice Session
Karen Bluth: Mindful Self-Compassion

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12.00pm- 1.30pm

Lunch
Location: Blueberry Hill

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12.30pm – 1.30pm

Contemplative Practice Session

Kim Clark: Introduction to Oppositional Cultural Practice (OCP)

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1.30pm – 2.30pm

Room 1 – Panel 15 – Meditation and Psychedelic Assisted Therapy
Anthony King, The Ohio State University,
Michael Lifshitz, McGill University,
Rael Cahn, University of Southern California,
Simon Goldberg, University of Wisconsin

Room 2 – Panel 16 – Bringing evidence-based contemplative practices into clinical settings: Lessons from the OPTIMUM trial
Jessica Barnhill, University of North Carolina,
Isabel Roth, University of North Carolina,
Holly Thomas, University of Pittsburgh,
Gabriela Castro, University of North Carolina, Keturah Faurot, University of North Carolina

Room 3 – Panel 17 – Using Mindfulness Training to Support College Students’ Stress Management, Mental Health, and Academic Engagement
Brian Galla, University of Pittsburgh,
Matthew Hirshberg, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Zishan Jiwani, University of Wisconsin, 
Polina Beloborodova, University of Wisconsin

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2.30pm – 3.00pm

Coffee Break
Location: Blueberry Hill

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13.00pm – 4.00pm

Panel 18 – Interdisciplinary Reflections on Psychedelic Science, Contemplative Practice, and Mystical Experience in Grief Healing: UVA PIRC
Jennifer Penberthy, University of Virginia,
Tamika Braveheart, University of Virginia,
Donna Chen, University of Virginia,
Melissa Frost, University of Virginia ,
Adelaide King, University of Virginia

Panel 20 – Exploring the Role of Mindfulness in Advancing Equitable Instruction in Schools
Doris Chang, New York University,
Lindsay Romano, University of Colorado Boulder, Patricia Jennings , University of Virginia,
Dennis Williams Ii, University of Virginia

Contemplative Practice Session
Kessonga Giscombe: “Speak Less, Listen More: The Power of Mindful Communication”

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4.00pm – 4.45pm

Closing Session
Location: Grumman Auditorium