Description/Abstract: Richard Sloan, Ph.D., is the Nathaniel Wharton Professor of Behavioral Medicine at Columbia University and Chief of the Division of Behavioral Medicine at New York State Psychiatric Institute.

Dr. Sloan's principal work focuses on identifying the autonomic nervous system mechanisms linking psychological risk factors such as depression, hostility, and anxiety to heart disease. Funded research studies address various aspects of this problem.

In addition, Dr. Sloan and colleagues have explored and criticized the purported links between religion, spirituality, and health that have appeared in popular and medical publications. They have examined the empirical basis of the claim that religious activity promotes health and identified significant ethical, practical, and even theological problems associated with making religious activity an adjunctive medical procedure.

He is the author of Blind Faith: The Unholy Alliance of Religion and Medicine (St. Martin's Press).

Please rsvp by Tuesday, February 7th:

Where: 305 Russell

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The Health, Behavior and Society colloquium series, sponsored by the Office of the Provost of Teachers College and Gottesman Libraries, seeks to bring together faculty and students from across Teachers College and other units of Columbia University whose research interests include the biological, behavioral, and social basis of healthy human development and health-related educational, behavioral, and social intervention.