Human beings have long been
intrigued by the possible connections between spiritual or religious
practices and physical health. In today's world, this can also
be a highly controversial topic. Until recently, such a discussion
would also have been considered outside of the realm of medical
practice and evaluation. This has begun to change, however, as
you will have an opportunity to hear from Dr. Anne Harrington.
She will be the next speaker for the Distinguished Lectures in
the Science of Complementary and Alternative Medicine, a series
hosted by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative
Medicine. Her talk, titled, "Is Spirituality Good for Your Health?
Historical Reflections on an Emerging Research Enterprise," will
take place on Friday, Oct. 28 at 11 a.m. in Masur Auditorium,
Bldg. 10.
Harrington, professor of the history of science at Harvard University,
argues that we find ourselves in a historically unique moment in
which medical researchers design double-blind trials of prayer,
ministers talk about the brain and the immune system from the pulpit,
monks meditate inside brain-imaging machines and studies of the
placebo effect and positive attitude frame the discussion about
the science of "miracle" healings. In this eighth Distinguished
Lecture presented by NCCAM, Harrington will offer an historical
perspective on these varied developments, reflect on how they relate
to one another and invite critical scrutiny of the different kinds
of challenges — intellectual, ethical, political — raised by this
research.
Harrington specializes in the history of psychiatry, neuroscience
and other mind sciences. She received her Ph.D. in the history
of science from the University of Oxford in 1985 and has held postdoctoral
fellowships at the Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine
in London and at the University of Freiberg in Germany. In addition
to her teaching position as Loeb Harvard College professor at Harvard
University, she is also visiting professor of medical history at
the London School of Economics and Political Science. She was co-director
for 6 years of the Harvard University Mind, Brain, Behavior Initiative
and a member for 6 years of the MacArthur Foundation Research Network
on Mind-Body Interactions, where she worked on such topics as placebo
effects, trance phenomena, group therapy for breast cancer and
the effects of meditation on emotional health in the workplace.
In addition to writing more than 50 articles and book chapters,
she has published two books — Medicine,
Mind, and the Double Brain (1987) and Reenchanted
Science (1996) — and has edited five other
books including The Placebo Effect (1997). Her newest book, Stories
Under the Skin: American Mind-Body Medicine and Its Histories,
is under contract with W.W. Norton and will be published soon.
NCCAM invites all to attend the lecture. It will also be webcast
on http://videocast.nih.gov. For reasonable accommodation, contact
Karen Davison at (301) 348-1606, or the Federal Relay at 1-800-877-8339. 
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