Mindfulness and Compassion Grand Rounds at Harvard Medical School will be held about twice monthly, live online via Zoom, and is open to those within Harvard Medical School, Cambridge Health Alliance (CHA), and members of the CMC community. for free. Our Grand Rounds series has 3 main aims:

  • Disseminate information about new cutting edge science and impactful clinical research findings

  • Highlight best practices for enhancing the efficacy, accessibility, and safety of mindfulness and compassion delivery and applications for population mental health

  • Provide opportunities for healthcare provider self-care and burnout prevention

Not able to attend live over Zoom?


2024/25 Academic Year

Subject of lecture - What Have We Learned From Two Decades of Randomized Trials Testing Meditation-Based Interventions?

Date: Monday, May 19, 2025
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Simon Goldberg, PhD

Description: This talk will explore findings that have emerged from randomized trials that have been conducted testing various meditation-based interventions. The speaker will share results from large-scale evaluations of this literature derived through meta-analyses and will describe a current project aimed at creating a publicly available database of trials to be used for research synthesis. Future directions and open questions to be addressed through randomized trials and meta-analyses of this literature will be discussed.

Presenter Bio: Dr. Simon Goldberg is an Associate Professor in the Department of Counseling Psychology and Core Faculty at the Center for Healthy Minds at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. He conducts research on psychological interventions, with a specific emphasis on the effects of and mechanisms underlying meditation- and mindfulness-based interventions. He has served as PI of an NCCIH K23 award focused on the delivery of meditation training through mobile health technology and is MPI of an NCCIH R24 award aimed at developing publicly available repositories of data from complementary and integrative health trial that can be used for research syntheses. He has served on the editorial board for the Journal of Counseling Psychology, Psychotherapy, Psychotherapy Research, and American Psychologist. His work has been featured in The New York Times, The Atlantic, Today, CNBC, The Week, and Scientific American.

Learning Objectives:

  1. Describe the clinical conditions and outcomes for which meditation-based interventions have the strongest evidence.

  2. Evaluate the limitations of the existing evidence base.

  3. Summarize key areas for future randomized trials and meta-analyses.

Continuing Education Information

  • For those seeking continuing education credit, the link to a feedback form will be sent during the live lecture in the Zoom chat. This must be filled out to receive CE; credits are processed at the end of the academic year in late June 2025 for the entire Grand Rounds series. CE certificates are issued a month or so after that time. Although these sessions are recorded, we can only offer CE to those who attend live over Zoom.

  • The Harvard Medical School is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians. The Harvard Medical School designates this live activity for a maximum of 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

  • Cambridge Health Alliance, Division of Continuing Education in Psychiatry is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Cambridge Health Alliance, Division of Continuing Education in Psychiatry maintains responsibility for this program and its content. This program offers 1.0 continuing education credits.

  • Cambridge Health Alliance, Division of Continuing Education in Psychiatry has been approved by the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC) as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 5444. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Cambridge Health Alliance, Division of Continuing Education in Psychiatry is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs. This program offers 1.0 continuing education credits and is also applicable for Commonwealth of Massachusetts Counseling/Allied Mental Health accreditation for 1.0 credits.

  • As a Jointly Accredited Organization, Harvard Medical School is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved under this program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. Social workers completing this course receive 1 clinical continuing education credit.

  • An attendance attestation form will be shared during each event in the Zoom chat, before the Q&A session.


Coming Up

June 2: Narayan Liebenson

Previous Speakers

Sign up to get the link to the recordings here


I Move Therefore I Am: Cultivating Whole Person Health Through Mind-Body Movement in Chronic Disease

Date: Monday, May 5, 2025
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Gloria Yeh, MD, MPH

Living with Fire: Finding Calm in a Time of Uncertainty

Date: Monday, April 21, 2025
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Pico Iyer

Mindfulness and Compassion in the Anthropocene: Reframing Meditation Practice as Fuel for Metabolizing the Difficult

Date: Monday, March 17, 2025
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Willa B. Baker, PhD

Collective Flourishing: Reverence In A Complex World

Date: Monday, February 3, 2025
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Yuria Celidwen, PhD

Inner Refuge: Mindfulness Practices for Sustaining Strength in Crisis

Date: Monday, January 6, 2025
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Sharon Salzberg

The Cart Track: Two Approaches to Suffering

Date: Monday, December 16, 2024
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Henry Shukman, Zen teacher, author, poet

Measuring Mindfulness and Related Concepts with New PROMIS Tools

Date: Monday, December 2, 2024
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: David Victorson, Ph.D.

Finding Our True Home in the Journey

Date: Monday, November 18, 2024
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Marisela B Gomez, MS MPH PHD MD

The Hidden Conversation: Interoception's Role in Mind-Body Health and Healing

Date: Monday, November 4, 2024
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenters: Sahib Khalsa MD, PhD

Cultural Considerations when Addressing Stress & Anxiety in Black Perinatal People: A Mindfulness Approach

Date: Monday, October 21, 2024
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenters: Karen Sheffield-Abdullah, PhD, RN, CNM, FACNM

Undoing Aloneness & Healing Attachment Wounds with AEDP

Date: Monday, September 30, 2024
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenters: Diana Fosha, PhD

The Evolution of Self-Compassion in Healthcare: A Decade of Progress and Its Role in Combating Burnout

Date: Monday, September 16, 2024
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenters: Paula Gardiner, MD, MPH and Christopher Germer, PhD

Mindful-OBOT Study- A First Look: Insights from a National Study of Live-Online Mindfulness Groups During Opioid Use Disorder Treatment

Date: Monday, June 3, 2024
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenters: Zev Schuman-Olivier, MD and Joseph Rosansky, Ph.D

The PARTS Study- A First Look: Insights from Group-Based Internal Family Systems Research

Date: Monday, May 20, 2024
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Zev Schuman-Olivier, MD and additional members of the CMC team including Lexie Comeau, MA; Hanna Soumerai, LICSW; Mary Catherine Ward, LICSW; Brian Orr, LICSW, MSW; Dilara Ally PhD, LCSW; and Fiona Kate Rice, LMHC.

Biopsychosocial Approaches to Improving Cardiometabolic Conditions in African American Women through Mindfulness and Self-Compassion

Date: Monday, May 6, 2024
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Cheryl Giscombe, PhD, MA, MSN, PMHNP-BC

The Myth of Self-Improvement: Returning to the Heart of Who We Are

Date: Monday, April 22, 2024
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Caverly Morgan

Is Mindfulness Self-Help Helpful for Depression?

Date: Monday, April 1, 2024
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Professor Clara Strauss BA (Hons) PhD DClinPsy

Living Wide Awake: Turning Fear into Compassionate Action

Date: Monday, March 18, 2024
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Koshin Paley Ellison Sensei, MFA, LMSW, DMIN and Chodo Robert Campbell Sensei, GC-C, Co-Founders and Co-Guiding Teachers of the New York Zen Center

Breathing and the Brain: Rhythm and Emotion

Date: Monday, March 4, 2024
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Jack L. Feldman, Distinguished Professor and David Geffen School of Medicine Chair in Neuroscience, Department of Neurobiology, UCLA

Integrating Mindfulness Into Healthcare

Date: February 12, 2024
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Paula Gardiner, MD, MPH

Liberation Ecotherapy: A Healing Justice Framework for Nature-based Social Prescribing for Mental Health

Date: January 29, 2024
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: J. Phoenix Smith, MSW

The Role of Mindfulness in Reversing High Blood Pressure: Clinical Trial Discoveries

Date: Monday, December 18, 2023
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Eric B. Loucks, MD

Truth and Repair: How Trauma Survivors Envision Justice

Date: Monday, December 4, 2023
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Judith L. Herman, MD

The Power of Ceremony: Indigenous Contemplative Practices, Neurodecolonization, and Indigenous Mindfulness

Date: Monday, November 6, 2023
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Michael Yellow Bird, MSW, PhD, Dean and Professor

Mindfulness Based Real-Time fMRI Neurofeedback, Cathy Kerr Annual Memorial Lecture

Date: Monday, October 16, 2023
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Susan Whitfield-Gabrieli, PhD

Connecting Our Inner Work to the Outer World

Date: Monday, October 2, 2023
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Shelly Tygielski

What Actually Makes Us Happy?: Lessons from the Longest Study of Human Thriving

Date: Monday, September 18, 2023
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Robert J. Waldinger, MD

Mindfulness-Based Childbirth and Parenting: Preparing a New Generation for Birthing and Beyond

Date: Monday, June 5, 2023
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenters: Nancy Bardacke, CNM, MA and Larissa Duncan, Ph.D.

The Buddha Arrives on Turtle Island: Decolonizing the Dharma

Date: Monday, May 15, 2023
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Dr. Eduardo Duran

Building Bridges, Not Walls: Applying Lessons from Contemplative Science to Enhance Equity and Inclusion in the Classroom, Clinic & Beyond

Date: Monday, May 1, 2023
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Doris F. Chang, PhD

Mindful Medicine: Healing Burnout and Replenishing Your Energy

Date: Monday, April 3, 2023
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Jan Chozen-Bays, MD

Contemplative Practices for Inclusive, Anti-Racist Clinical Engagement and Healthcare

Date: Monday, March 20, 2023
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Kamilah Majied, LMSW, PhD

The Minds and Mentors Program: Promoting Peer Support in Recovery Research

Date: Monday, March 6, 2023
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Mercy Ngosa Mumba, PhD, RN, FAAN

Mindful Resilience And Post Traumatic Post Pandemic Growth

Date: Monday, February 6, 2023
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Christopher Willard, PsyD

Mindfulness, Advanced Meditation, and Future Directions for Research

Date: Monday, December 19, 2022
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Matthew D. Sacchet, Ph.D.

Finding Balance in Difficult Situations: Awareness and Wisdom as a Practice

Date: Monday, December 5, 2022
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Alexis Santos

From Beast Machines to Dream Machines

Date: Monday, November 21, 2022
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Professor Anil Seth, D.Phil, MA, MSc

How To Be Your Best: Insights From Neuroimaging To Optimize Performance

Annual Cathy Kerr Memorial Lecture

Date: Monday, November 7, 2022
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Martin Paulus, MD

Radical Friendship in the Workplace: A Mindfulness Practice for Stressful Times

Date: Monday, October 17, 2022
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Kate Johnson

Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement: Clinical Outcomes and Biobehavioral Mechanisms of an Evidence-Based Therapy for Chronic Pain, Opioid Misuse, and Opioid Use Disorder

Date: Monday, October 3, 2022
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Dr. Eric Garland

Befriending Eco-Anxiety: Mindful Practices for Moving Through Grief, Loss, and Change

Date: Monday, September 19, 2022
Time: 1-2pm (ET)
Presenter: Kaira Jewel Lingo

Speaker Archive 2021-2022

Speaker Archive 2020-2021