Bottom-up and Top-down Evidence for Mind-Body Medicine Approaches: From Genomics to Economics
In this talk, Dr. Denninger will discuss how support for mind-body medicine approaches is being advanced from multiple directions. Our mechanistic understanding of the biology underlying mind-body medicine is expanding through investigations of genetic expression changes brought about by practices such as meditation, yoga, and Tai Chi. At the same time, evidence is growing that mind-body medicine approaches have the power to decrease healthcare utilization. These lines of evidence converge to suggest that mind-body approaches should be part of the solution for the nation’s healthcare crisis.
Presenter: John Denninger, MD, PhD is Director of Research at the Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Denninger’s work overseeing the Benson-Henry Institute’s research program explores the relationship between stress reduction, resiliency enhancement and health in both clinical and basic domains. His research focuses on answering two questions about mind-body medicine interventions: (1) Assessing how well these interventions can help to promote wellness in a broad range of people and (2) determining how these interventions work, by exploring details of mechanism from genes, to biochemistry, to physiology, to brain activity.
Location:
70 Francis Street, BWH
Shapiro Breakout Room, Shapiro Building, 1st Fl