Thomas R. Cole, Ph.D.

Thomas R. Cole is the Beth and Toby Grossman Professor and Director of the McGovern Center for Health, Humanities, and the Human Spirit at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston. He is also a Professor of Humanities in the Department of Religious Studies at Rice University. Cole graduated from Yale University (B.A. Philosophy, 1971), Wesleyan University (M.A., History, 1975) and the University of Rochester, (Ph.D., History, 1981).

Dr. Cole has published many articles and several books on the history of aging and humanistic gerontology. His book The Journey of Life: A Cultural History of Aging in America (Cambridge University Press, 1992) was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. He is senior editor of What Does It Mean to Grow Old? (Duke, 1986), the Handbook of Humanities and Aging (Springer, 1992, 2 edition 1999) and Voices and Visions:
Toward a Critical Gerontology (Springer, 1993). The New Yorker noted his co-edited Oxford Book of Aging as one of the most memorable books of 1995. His most recent co-edited book is Practicing the Medical Humanities (2003).

Cole's interest in the life stories of older people has taken him into biography and film-making. In 1984, he encountered a hospitalized psychiatric patient who claimed he was the “original Texas integration leader.” While psychiatrists focused on the diagnosis, Cole embarked on a decade-long journey to recover the patient's story. The result was a book—No Color Is My Kind: the Life of Eldrewey Steams and the Desegregation of Houston (1997) — and an accompanying film, “The Strange Demise of Jim Crow”, broadcast nationally on over 60 PBS stations and internationally by the State Department. The documentary received numerous awards and was nominated for a regional Emmy and a National Humanities Medal.
Cole's most recent film, Still Life: The Humanity of Anatomy, was an official selection at the Doubletake Documentary Film festival in April 2002. This work explores the special yet unstated relationship between medical students in the anatomy lab and the people who donate their bodies for dissection. In 2001, Cole's writing workshop program for elders was featured in the PBS documentary Life Stories. Both films probe relationships between present and past, the living and the dead as crucibles of moral and spiritual development. Cole is co-producing a film about individuals and families recovering from stroke, while launching a project to study and support people frightened about memory loss and/or diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in advance of clinical symptoms.

Cole's work has been featured in the New York Times, National Public Radio, Voice of America, PBS, and at the United Nations. He serves as an advisor to the United Nations NGO Committee on Ageing, the Union for Reform Judaism's Department of Family Concerns, and various editorial and foundation boards. In 2004-2005, he served as a consultant to the President's Council on Bioethics project on aging, recently released in print as Taking Care.

Dan Dunlap, Ph.D.

Dr. Dunlap arrived at the Houston Graduate School of Theology only last July (2004) and has already proven himself to a viable member of the Administrative Staff and an outstanding leader of the HGST Faculty.  Dr. Dunlap was first ordained a Deacon in 1990 by the Diocese of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, Reformed, Episcopal Church, USA and in 1995 became an Ordained Presbyter by the Southern Diocese of the Free Church of England, United Kingdom.

 Dr. Dunlap's strong educational background provides a tremendous backdrop for his work here at HGST.  His Ph.D. was earned at Wycliffe Hall of Oxford University in 2001 with his Thesis title being Liturgy, Eucharist, and Holy Spirit: Pneumatology in the Anglican Liturgical Tradition (16 th -20 th centuries) .  Other graduate studies were done at Drew University Graduate School (1992-93) and the Biblical Theological Seminary of Hatfield, PA (1986-92) receiving a Master of Divinity and Master of Arts (New Testament Exegesis) degrees.  Dr. Dunlap's Bachelor work was done at The Pennsylvania State University and Delaware Valley College of Science and Agriculture.

 Past teaching posts include: Andrews Hall, Phoenix, AZ (in collaboration with Cranmer Theological House) as Professor of Theology and Worship; Cranmer Theological House, Houston, TX (Dean/Principal); Cranmer Theological House, Shreveport, LA as Professor of Dogmatic Theology and Professor of Pastoral and Liturgical Theology; Central School of Religion, London, United Kingdom; Exeter Martyrs Theological Seminary, Exeter, Devon, United Kingdom; Philadelphia Theological Seminary, Philadelphia, PA and the Biblical Theological Seminary, Hatfield, PA.

 Dr. Dunlap's pastoral experience include All Saints Reformed Episcopal Church of Shreveport, LA, Christchurch, Free Church of England, Exeter, United Kingdom, Grace Chapel Reformed Episcopal, Philadelphia, PA, Christ Church, Presbyterian Church in America, Chalfont, PA and Trinity Presbyterian Church in America, Harrisburg, PA.  Dr. Dunlap is currently in the process of being received as a minister in the Episcopal Diocese of Texas of the Episcopal Church, USA.

 Dr. Dunlap and his wife Donna reside in suburban Spring, Texas with their three children.  They are members of St. Dunstan's Episcopal Church in Northwest Houston.

Robert J. Hesse, Ph.D.

He is Co-founder and President of Contemplative Outreach (CO) Network dedicated to interdenominational Christian contemplative prayer. He was inspired at Gethsemani Trappist monastery, at the time the home of Thomas Merton. Trappist monk Thomas Keating, Co-founder of CO Ltd., appointed him Co-coordinator of Houston and Emissary to Mind and Life’s (M&L) Garrison Institute for research on contemplative practitioners which came from Keating being invited by M&L’s Co-founder, the Dalai Lama. In addition to being on IRH’s faculty, he gives numerous workshops on Christian contemplative prayer. He is an ordained Catholic Deacon of the Galveston-Houston Archdiocese, a clergyman at St. John Vianney Catholic Church, a member of the Deacon Spirituality Committee, a Retreat Master at Holy Name Retreat Center, a founding Advisor to The Working Connection, a speaker at the Rothko Chapel, and collaborator with the Center for Faith and Culture of the University of St. Thomas. He is interested in the convergence of science and religion: physics-metaphysics, chemistry-life, biology-consciousness, and psychology-mysticism. He is especially interested in healing suffering from mental illness. He has given many presentations internationally. He has degrees in chemistry and theology with a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry.

Formerly Research Scientist at Shell Development, he is President and Founder of energy consulting company HEI. He has been a registered Professional Engineer in several states and disciplines, with numerous publications and a patent. He has traveled to over 60 countries often establishing international consortia for project development.

Keith A. Jenkins, Ph.D.

Born August 21 , 1 953 in Houston, Texas
Raised in Houston, Texas
Currently live in WillowbrooklCharnpions area of NW Houston
Family
Married Barbara Parker Jenkins of El Campo, Texas, June 1 , 1974
Son, Allen Jenkins (Senior, Southwestern University)
Daughter, Emily Jenkins (Senior, Cy Creek High School)
Education
B.A., Southwestern University cum laude, Georgetown, Texas, 1975
M.Div., Duke University summa curn laude, Durham, North Carolina, 1978
M.A., Ph.D., Rice University, Houston, Texas, 1990, 1993
Conference Relationship
Ordained Deacon in 1976
Ordained Elder in 1979
Previous Positions in Higher Education
Chaplain, Eon Morris College, Jacksonville, Texas
Vice President for Academic Affairs, Eon Morris College, Jacksonville, Texas
Executive Vice President & Dean of the Faculty, Tennessee Wesleyan College, Athens, TN
Chaplain, Berry College, Rome, Georgia
Current Position
President and Professor of Religion & Literature, Houston Graduate School of Theology
Immediately before coming to HGST in June 2003, served for 5 years as Senior Associate Pastor at John Wesley UMC, Houston

Samuel E. Karff

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. Rabbi Karff is presently Associate Director of the John McGovern Center for Health, Humanities and the Human Spirit and Visiting Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Texas Medical School in Houston, Texas. He has been a lecturer in the Department of Religious Studies at Rice University from 1 977 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 contributed chapters on Judaism to a college text Religions of the World, which has been used on over 200 campuses here and abroad. He is the author of Agada: The Language of Jewish Faith, The Soul of the Ray, released in October 1999, and his most recent work Permission to Believe Finding Faith in Troubled Times, released by Abingdon Press in April 2005. He has contributed chapters to fourteen books and is a past president of the Central Conference of American Rabbis. He has lectured extensively in this country and abroad.

In 1999 he became the Founder and Director of the Health and Human Spirit Program at the University of Texas Houston Health Science Center, which in 2004 was expanded into the Center for Health, Humanities, and the Human Spirit.
Rabbi Karif is on the Board of Directors of the Institute for Religion and Health, Texas Medical Center-Houston; The Coalition for Mutual Respect, Anti-Defamation League; and is a former member of the Executive Committee and the Board of Trustees for the United Way of the Texas Gulf Coast.

Tracy X. Karner, PhD

Tracy Xavia Karner is an Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Houston . A widely published sociologist, Professor Karner is also the founder and director of the University of Houston 's ground-breaking interdisciplinary Visual Studies program and a leading authority on the construction of the self: the process through which individuals and groups explore, define, express, and transform their identities.

Her interest in self-construction, self-delineation, and self-disclosure has led her to explore such diverse topics as how veterans use television and cinematic images to understand their experience and how artists' gender influences the reception and interpretation of their art. A nationally-known expert in the field of medical sociology, Professor Karner has written widely on how individuals experience illness and strategies by which care can be delivered in more culturally accessible and appropriate ways.

The recipient of an award from the American Sociological Association, numerous teaching awards and of more than $2.7 million in grants to support her research projects, Professor Karner is the co-author of a popular sociology textbook, and the author of more than 30 articles in such professional journals as The American Sociologist, The American Studies Journal, Clinical Sociology Review, Communication and Cognition, Ethnic and Racial Studies, The Journal of Aging and Mental Health, The Journal of Aging and Social Policy, The Journal of Aging Studies, The Journal of Applied Gerontology, masculinities, Qualitative Health Research, and Symbolic Interactionism.

Bradford Keeney, Ph.D.

Bradford Keeney, Ph.D., is Distinguished Scholar of Cultural Studies, Ringing Rocks Foundation. He has worked at some of the most respected psychotherapy centers in the United States including the Ackerman Institute in New York City, the Karl Menninger Center in Topeka, and the Philadelphia Child Guidance Clinic, and was director of several family therapy doctoral programs. His creative approach to psychotherapy is presented in the "clinical videotape series, Brief Therapy Inside Out, produced by Zeig, Tucker & Thiesen. A Clinical Member, Approved Supervisor, and Fellow of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy and Advisory Board Member of the National Academy for Certified Family Therapists, he has presented training programs, workshops, and keynote addresses throughout the world and has appeared on numerous radio and television programs.

The author of several classics in the field of family therapy, including Aesthetics of Change, Mind in Therapy, and Improvisational Therapy, he has also written numerous titles for the popular press, such as Everyday Soul, The Energy Break, Shaking Out the Spirits, Crazy Wisdom Tales, and Bushman Shaman: Awakening the Spirit through Ecstatic Dance. As an improvisational performer, he has toured the world from New York City to Rio de Janeiro, including a special performance with jazz guitarist AI Di Meola at the Miami Arena. His musical compositions are featured on the CD albums, Precious is His Love and African Heat: Ecstatic Rhythms for Boiling Soul.

Keeney, who has carried out one of the broadest and most intense field studies of global shamanism in history, is the editor of the critically acclaimed book series, Profiles of Healing, a ten-volume  encyclopedia of the world's healing practices, and is the subject of the book, American Shaman: An Odyssey of Global Healing Traditions written by Jeffrey Kottler and Jon Carlson.  

Bradford Keeney is accepted as an elder shaman and spiritual teacher in numerous cultures throughout the world, including the Japanese tradition of seiki jutsu, the Guarani Indians of lower basin Amazonia, the Zulu sangoma community, the elder Shakers of St. Vincent, diverse folk healers of Brazil, and the Balians of Bali, among others. Regarded as a n/om kxao (owner of spiritual power) by the Bushmen of Namibia and Botswana, he founded Thara Tjua (Shaking House), the Bushman Healing Conservancy.

Anne Carolyn Klein, Ph.D.

Anne Carolyn Klein is Professor of Religious Studies at Rice University in Houston, Texas, and the founding director and resident teacher at Dawn Mountain, has practiced, studied and translated extensively in three of the five Tibetan traditions; her main practice and transmission lineages are through Ketsun Sangpo Rinpoche of Nepal, and Adzom Paylo Rinpoche of Sichuan; under their direction she has completed a variety of personal retreats in the US and Asia.

She has been a practicing Buddhist and student of Buddhist thought since 1971, when she studied with Kensur Ngawang Lekden, then 70 years old, the last Abbot of the Tantric College of Lower Lhasa. She has also studied extensively with a number of prominent Geluk and Dzogchen teachers in India, Nepal and the U.S including (in chronological order) Geshe Wangyal, Lati Rinpoche, Geshe Rabten, Denma Locho Rinpoche, Loling Kensur Yeshey Thupten, Lama Gompo Tsayden, Chogyal Namkhai Norbu, Tulkku Thondup, Lobon Tenzin Namdak, and Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche

After graduating from Harpur College (now Binghamton University) cum laude with Highest Honors in English, she earned her M.A. in Buddhist Studies from the University of Wisconsin and her PhD. in Religious/Tibetan Studies from the University of Virginia. Following this she was awarded a Teaching and Research post-doc at Harvard Divinity School as a Research Associate in Women's Studies and the History of Religion. Her books include Meeting the Great Bliss Queen, Path to the Middle and Knowledge and Liberation.

James Lomax, M.D.

Dr. Lomax is Associate Chairman and Director of Educational Programs in the Department of Psychiatry at Baylor College of Medicine. He received his B.A. from Rice University in 1967 Magna Cum Laude and his M.D. with honors from Baylor College of Medicine in 1971. He was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and Alpha Omega Alpha.  His internship in internal medicine at the University of Oregon.  Portland VAR was followed by a residency in general psychiatry at Baylor College of Medicine where he served as chief resident. Dr. Lomax completed psychoanalytic training in 1986 at the Houston-Galveston Psychoanalytic Institute (HGPI) . He was appointed Professor of Psychiatry at Baylor in 1989 and Training and Supervising Psychoanalyst at HGPI in 1998.  Dr. Lomax is former president of the American Association of Directors of Psychiatry Residency Training, Fellow of the American College of Psychiatrists, and Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association. He is former president of the Houston Psychiatric Society and served on the Executive Board of the Rice University Alumni Association. He is an adjunct faculty member of the Institute of Religion at the Texas Medical Center. Dr. Lomax has served both on the Residency Review Committee for Psychiatry and the Part I (Testwriting) Committee of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. Dr. Lomax served five years as Chairman of Baylor's Graduate Medical Education Committee (which has oversight responsibility for more than 1,200 residents in 78 ACGME accredited and 61 nonaccredited, subspecialty residency programs) . He is Vice Chair of Baylor's Faculty Appointments and Promotions Committee.  Dr. Lomax's clinical interests are in psychoanalytic treatment of anxiety, mood, and personality disorders. His scholarly interests include the interface between religion, spirituality, and healing from a psychiatric and psychoanalytic perspective.

Richard S. Materson, M.D.

Richard S Materson, M.D. is Clinical Full Professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Baylor College of medicine and UT Medical School at Houston.. He retired from Memorial Hermann Healthcare System in July 2005 where he had served as Corporate Medical Vice -President. His responsibilities included Wellness, Mind-Body Medicine, Integrated Medicine, Post Acute Care and the Spiritual Leadership Institute. He was Sr. VP and Medical Director of the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Washington, DC from 1990-1997. He is a former President of the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Founder and 1st President of the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Education and Research Foundation (PMR-ERF). He has been honored as a Schachtel Lecturer, the Walter Zeiter Lecturer, and has received a Distinguished Public Service Award from the AAPM&R. He has served many organizations as officer or Board member including ten years at he Institute for Religion and Health where he was previous Board Chair. He was a member of and Chairman of the Residency Review Committee for PM&R and has had teaching appointments at multiple institutions. He has over 250 invited lectures and presentations and is an author of multiple books, chapters and papers. His major clinical interest has been axiology in the treatment of chronic pain and the intersection of spirituality and medical science.

Amy L. McGuire, JD, PhD

Amy L. McGuire, J.D., Ph.D. is an assistant professor of medicine and medical ethics with the Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy at Baylor College of Medicine. She received her B.A. in psychology, summa cum laude, from the University of Pennsylvania in December 1995, her J.D., summa cum laude, from the University of Houston in 2000, and her Ph.D. in medical humanities, with distinction, from the Institute for the Medical Humanities at the University of Texas Medical Branch in 2004. Dr. McGuire's research interests focus on legal and ethical issues in research involving human subjects. She is particularly interested in issues of informed consent and confidentiality in human genome sequencing research. Her research is funded by NIH (1 R01 HG004333-01), Greenwall Foundation Faculty Scholars Program in Bioethics, and a Baylor College of Medicine Basic and Clinical Collaborative Research Grant. Dr. McGuire is a member of the Personalized Health Care Working Group (PHC) for the American Health Information Community (AHIC), Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC HIT), Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and is co-chair of the Confidentiality, Privacy, and Security Sub-group. She is also a member of the NIH Advisory Committee to the Director (ACD), Working Group on Participant and Data Protection (PDP) for the Genetic Association Information Network (GAIN) and is on the advisory board for the X Prize in Genomics and Darwin2009.

Dr. McGuire's responsibilities at Baylor include directing and teaching the first-year medical student ethics course, teaching medical and pediatric residents, and serving on several committees, including the ethics committees at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital and The Ben Taub General Hospital, the Baylor Institutional Review Board, and the Baylor Curriculum Committee.

Susan M. Miller, MD, MPH

Susan M. Miller, MD, MPH, is Research Associate Professor in the College of Technology at the University of Houston, and is Honorary Faculty at the Siberian Medical University in Tomsk, Siberia. She received her medical degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia, and completed her internship and residence in Family Practice at the University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston. She holds a Master's of Public Health from the UT School of Public Health.

Dr. Miller's research interests include women's health, international medicine, medical ethics, and HIV. She was Medical Director and Co-Principal Investigator of the NIH's landmark Women's health Initiative study at Baylor College of Medicine. For six years Dr. Miller was the Medical Director of Houston's Thomas Street Clinic, the first free-standing AIDS clinic in the United States. For her work with HIV-infected patients, Dr. Miller received the Macadory Humanitarian Award in 1993. Her past Appointments include Director of the George W. Zeluff Section of International Medicine, Associate Chief of the Department of Medicine, and Associate Professor of Medicine and Medical Ethics, all at Baylor College of Medicine. Dr. Miller is one of the "Best Doctors in America," an honor that was voted her by her peers.

William B. Parsons, Ph.D.

The son of an Episcopal missionary, William B. Parsons grew up in Kyoto, Japan, Berkeley, CA, and Cambridge, MA.  He received his M.Div from Yale University and Ph.D from the University of Chicago.  He is erstwhile Chair and Associate Professor of Religious studies at Rice University.  He is the author of The Enigma of the Oceanic Feeling, Religion and Psychology: Mapping the Terrain, and several articles in leading journals.  He is also area editor in the psychology of religion for Religious Studies Review.  He works in the fields of comparative mysticism and religion and the social sciences, and is presently completing a manuscript entitled Mourning Religion.

Lois M. Ramondetta, M.D. 
Associate Professor of Gynecologic Oncology
Associate Professor and Director, Division of Gynecologic Oncology, The University of Texas Health Science Center-Houston

In addition to her joint appointments, Dr. Ramondetta is a partner in the M. D. Anderson Gynecologic Oncology Associates with privileges and patient care duties at Memorial Hermann Hospital , Women's Hospital of Texas , St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital, and Lyndon Baines Johnson Hospital . She is a key member of the M. D. Anderson Outreach Program, which provides quality cancer care at regional medical centers, and trains fellows, residents, and medical students in the field of gynecologic oncology. She is presently chairperson of the Harris County Hospital District Cancer Committee.

Dr. Ramondetta's research interests include clinical trials in endometrial and cervical cancer with an emphasis on bringing these trials to the under-served Harris County population. She is currently the Principal Investigator or co-PI for several clinical and psycho-social trials at M. D. Anderson and Lyndon Baines Johnson Hospital , and has been integral in bringing these trials to the community through the outreach program. She also focuses her research on physician-patient communication, biomedical ethics, and the effect of spirituality during cancer treatment, and quality of life.

Dr. Ramondetta is an American College of Obstetrics and Gynecologists Fellow, and a member of the American Association of Cancer Research, the Society of Gynecologic Oncologists, the Felix Rutledge Society, the Houston Obstetrical and Gynecological Society, the International Gynecologic Oncology Group, and the American Society of Clinical Oncology. She has written and co-authored numerous journal articles and abstracts on endometrial and cervix cancer as well as on spirituality and physician-patient communication. She has received numerous honors and awards including Best Abstract Award, Community Service Award, and Faculty Recognition Award for Dedication to Patient Care and Resident Teaching at Lyndon Baines Johnson Hospital , and the M. D. Anderson Cancer Center Clinical Fellows' Research Award.

Alma Rodriguez

Dr. Maria Alma Rodriguez received her medical degree from the University of Texas at Houston, and did her residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Texas Health Sciences Center in San Antonio Texas.  She trained as a cancer specialist at the University of Arizona Cancer Center in Tucson, Arizona.  She has been a clinician and clinical investigator at M. D. Anderson Cancer Center since 1986.  Her expertise is in the treatment of patients with lymphomas.  She's published articles, authored book chapters, and co-edited a book on the treatment of lymphomas. She's served on numerous committees at the Institution, including the Institutional Review Board, and the Clinical Ethics Committee.  She currently serves on the Oncology Drugs Advisory Committee for the FDA, and the Ethics Committee of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.  She is Vice-President of Medical Affairs, at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. Click here to view her curriculum vita.

Dr. Robert Svoboda

Dr Robert Svoboda, probably the greatest American-practitioner of Ayurvedic medicine. Robert E. Svoboda, B.A.M.S. is the first Westerner ever to graduate from a college of Ayurveda and be licensed to practice Ayurveda in India. - He graduated in 1980 from Tilak Ayurveda Mahavidyalaya in Pune, where world-renowned author and Ayurvedic Physician, Dr. Vasant Lad, B.A.M.S., M.A.Sc., was one of his professors. Since that time he has traveled extensively around the world, lecturing and conducting workshops on Ayurveda. Dr. Svoboda has traveled to more than fifty countries in the world, ­understands six languages and has authored several books. Dr. Svoboda consults with people privately. He usually presents one or two seminars each year at Dr. Lad's Ayurvedic Institute, which is where the Medicine Buddha Healing Center's Michael Reid ­Kreuzer, D.Ayur was able to learn from Dr. Svoboda's numerous yearly seminars since 1995. During and after Dr. Svoboda's formal Ayurvedic College training his mentor, the Aghori Vimalananda, tutored him in Ayurveda, Yoga, Jyotish Tantra, and other forms of classical Indian lore. Vimalananda was also one of Dr. Lad's teachers as well. After moving to India in 1973, Dr. Svoboda lived there for more than a decade. Since 1985 he has continued to spend -many months of each year there and in other lands. The author of a dozen books, he serves as Adjunct Faculty for the Ayurvedic Institute in Albuquerque and for Bastyr University in Seattle.

Elisabeth Tsubai RN, BSN, MS, CHPN

Elisabeth Tsubai RN, BSN, MS, CHPN is Director of Operations for the Institute for Palliative Medicine at The Methodist Hospital Houston, Texas.  She has over 25 years' experience as a health care educator, administrator, and organizational development consultant.  Ms. Tsubai is also a writer and performer of stand-up, sketch, and improvisational comedy.  She is the creator of "A Conversation With Tiffany", a comedic/poignant performance piece that is used to educate health care professionals about end of life issues.