We are a community of Christian academic physicians and scientists who are committed to helping one another discern and live up to our faith-based calling. We endeavor to transform our academic communities through faith, fellowship, and scholarship.

News & Events

NEWS

  • Leadership Team of the CMDA CAPS section authored an article on the motivation for CAPS in CMDA Today Winter 2021 issue: "Answering the Call"
  • CAPS launches newsletter CAPSoul Quarterly to connect fellow believers in academic medicine. The newsletter is distributed quarterly to faculty members of the CAPS section. If you are interested in receiving a current issue, please join the CAPS section or send us a message using the "Contact Us" tab.
  • Inaugural Research Sponsorship – Request for Application – CAPS will provide financial support for one faculty member to attend the 18th Annual Course on Religion, Spirituality and Health, a 5-day research workshop at the Duke’s Center for Spirituality, Theology and Health (August 15-19, 2022). Please submit the application by May 30, 2022 (11:59 pm of applicant's local time zone). Only faculty members of the CAPS section are eligible to apply.
  • Discipleship in Academic Medicine via Quad Squad v3.0 will commence March 2022. For more details, click on the "Mentoring" section of the Resources tab.
  • If you are interested in international medical education, please consider volunteering for CMDA's Medical Education International

 

EVENTS

January 26, 2022
A Christian’s Walk in Academic Medicine
CLOSED
February 23, 2022
“Transgender Medicine: the Christian Response”
Speaker:

André Van Mol, MD is a board-certified family physician in private practice. He serves on the boards of Bethel Church of Redding and Moral Revolution (moralrevolution.com), and is the co-chair of the American College of Pediatrician’s Committee on Adolescent Sexuality. He speaks and writes on bioethics and Christian apologetics, and is experienced in short-term medical missions. Dr. Van Mol teaches a course on Bioethics for the Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry. He and his wife Evelyn —both former U.S. Naval officers—have two sons and two daughters, the latter of whom were among their nine foster children.

Andre Van Mol, MD
CMDA Bioethics and Public Policy Committee Member
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March 23, 2022
A Christian’s Walk in Academic Medicine

Rodney J. Schlosser, MD, is Professor and Director of Rhinology and Sinus Surgery in the Department of Otolaryngology at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC). He completed his otolaryngology residency at the University of Virginia and his rhinology fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania, and he has been on staff at MUSC since 2002. Dr. Schlosser’s clinical areas of interest include revision sinus surgery, endoscopic repair of CSF leaks and skull base defects, resection of sinonasal and skull base tumors. His research interests include the mucosal immune response in various forms of chronic sinusitis and age-related olfactory loss. Dr. Schlosser has received research grants from the National Institute of Health, Veterans Administration, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and numerous medical companies. He has published a textbook on endoscopic sinus surgery, as well as over 300 peer reviewed articles and seven book chapters and has been an invited speaker throughout the U.S. and abroad. He is currently serving as President of the American Rhinologic Society.

Rodney J. Schlosser, MD

Mathew Mathew, PhD, is Associate Professor of Bioengineering at University of Illinois-Chicago and the Cedric W. Blazer Endowed Professor, University of Illinois College of Medicine Rockford Biomedical Sciences. He also holds a faculty appointment at the College of Dentistry and Department of Bioengineering, University of Illinois Chicago and Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Rush University Medical Center Chicago. His major research focus is on simulation of human artificial joints, biomechanics and tribocorrosion of implanted biomaterials used in dentistry and orthopedics. The main objective of his research is to increase the longevity of implants and determine the biocompatibility and stability of the implants using an interdisciplinary approach. His group is also actively involved in developing new diagnostic tools for detecting implant-derived circulating metal ions in the blood of patients who received metal implants. His research is supported by NIH, NSF and research foundations. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Bio and Tribocorrosion by Springer, and he was instrumental in initiating an international research institute called “Institute of Biomaterials, Tribocorrosion and Nanomedicine” (IBTN), which is a joint venture between University of Illinois (UIC) and UNESP, Brazil. 

Mathew Mathew, PhD
CLOSED
April 27, 2022
“Transgender Medicine: the Christian Response” Part II
Speaker:

André Van Mol, MD is a board-certified family physician in private practice. He serves on the boards of Bethel Church of Redding and Moral Revolution (moralrevolution.com), and is the co-chair of the American College of Pediatrician’s Committee on Adolescent Sexuality. He speaks and writes on bioethics and Christian apologetics, and is experienced in short-term medical missions. Dr. Van Mol teaches a course on Bioethics for the Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry. He and his wife Evelyn —both former U.S. Naval officers—have two sons and two daughters, the latter of whom were among their nine foster children.

Panel with
Andre Van Mol, MD
CMDA Bioethics and Public Policy Committee Member
CLOSED
May 25, 2022
A Christian’s Walk in Academic Medicine
Speakers:

June-Wha Rhee, MD is a physician-scientist in cardio-oncology at City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center. Dr. Rhee earned her bachelor’s degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a medical degree from Harvard. During her postgraduate training at Stanford, she was a resident in internal medicine, a fellow in cardiovascular medicine and a postdoctoral researcher studying heart diseases using patient-specific stem cells. Prior to her recruitment to City of Hope, Dr. Rhee served as an instructor at Stanford School of Medicine. Her current research is funded by the National Institutes of Health and the American Heart Association and delves into the mechanisms behind drug-induced cardiovascular complications. Her goal is to optimize cardiovascular health of cancer patients, through clinical care and research, so that cancer patients can safely receive the needed cancer therapies without cardiac complications. Dr. Rhee grew up in a Christian family and attended church since birth. However, it wasn’t until college that she personally met God, which changed her perspectives and goals in life. There have been many ups and downs in Dr. Rhee’s pursuit of an academic career, but God has been always patient, faithful, and gracious. Dr. Rhee will discuss how God has been guiding her as she navigated her academic career path.

June-Wha Rhee, MD

Jeff Russell, PhD is Associate Professor of Athletic Training and Director of Science and Health in Artistic Performance at Ohio University. He is a licensed and certified athletic trainer and earned his PhD in dance medicine and science from the University of Wolverhampton in the United Kingdom. His primary research areas at the university are concussions in film and television stunt performers, injuries and healthcare access in commercial dancers, and injuries and workload intensity in university dance team dancers. Jeff also leads The Kardía Foundation, an international ministry to healthcare workers that he and his wife Ruth founded in 1997. Since 2007, he has written a weekly devotional titled “E-KardíaGram” that incorporates healthcare metaphors into its Bible lessons; many of these devotionals are included in Jeff’s three-volume book series, Sharper Than a #11 Scalpel.

Jeff Russell, PhD
CLOSED
June 22, 2022
“Approaching Existential and Spiritual Concerns in Serious Illness”
Speaker:

After receiving his medical degree at Columbia University, Dr. John Peteet completed a medical internship at University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, a residency in psychiatry at the Massachusetts Mental Health Center and a fellowship at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. For more than 40 years he has been a psychiatrist at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, where he is Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. A Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, he has received several teaching awards and published numerous papers in the areas of psychosocial oncology, addiction and the clinical interface between spirituality/religion and psychiatry. He has authored or co-edited 12 books, including Doing the Right Thing: An Approach to Moral Issues in Mental Health Treatment, Depression and the Soul and The Soul of Medicine: Spiritual Perspectives and Clinical Practice. He is the recipient of the APA’s Oskar Pfister Award and is past president of the American Psychiatric Association’s Caucus on Religion, Spirituality and Psychiatry.

John Peteet, MD
Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard School of Medicine
UNDER REVIEW
July 2022
BREAK
August 24, 2022
“Bioethics of Advanced Biomedical Technology: Genetic Engineering”
Speaker:

William B. Hurlbut is a physician and Adjunct Professor in the Department of Neurobiology at Stanford University Medical Center.  His primary areas of interest involve the ethical issues associated with advancing biomedical technology, the biological basis of moral awareness, and studies in the integration of theology and philosophy of biology.  He has worked with NASA on projects in astrobiology and on Chemical and Biological Warfare at Stanford’s Center for International Security and Cooperation. He has co-chaired three interdisciplinary faculty projects at Stanford: “Becoming Human: The Evolutionary Origins of Spiritual, Religious and Moral Awareness,” “Brain Mind and Emergence,” and (ongoing) “The Boundaries of Humanity: Human, Animals, and Machines in the Age of Biotechnology.”  In addition, he was Co-leader, with Professor Jennifer Doudna (2020 Noble Laureate), of “The challenge and opportunity of gene editing: a project for reflection, deliberation and education.” From 2002-2009 Dr. Hurlbut served on the President's Council on Bioethics.

William B Hurlbut, MD
Adjunct Professor in Neurobiology, Stanford School of Medicine
Moderator: Fabrice Jotterand
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September 28, 2022
A Christian’s Walk in Academic Medicine
Moderator:
Richard Allman, MD
Speaker:

Andre Cipta, MD serves as the Program Director of the Kaiser Permanente Palliative Medicine Fellowship, Founding Director of the Kaiser Permanente Palliative Medicine Mid-Career Fellowship Track, inaugural Palliative Medicine Clerkship Director at the Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine, and Associate Medical Director of the Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Hospice Agency. His interest in caring for those in need previously led him to study social welfare in college, spend a year in seminary, and eventually specialize in the field of palliative medicine, where he finds profound meaning in caring for those with serious illness. As Fellowship Director, he expanded the program from two to four fellowship positions, added an innovative mid-career fellowship track in collaboration with the University of Pennsylvania, designed the Palliative Extubation Simulation Formative Activity for both graduate and undergraduate medical learners, and created a novel wellness curriculum called iRISE (Initiative for Resiliency, Introspection, Self-care, and Empathy), which received an innovations grant and numerous poster acceptances. His primary research interest is focused on studying spirituality and religion in healthcare. He has published on spiritual distress in serious illness and recently received the CAPS Faith and Medicine Research Award. He is a member of the CAPS Quad Squad Leadership Team and also serves as a deacon at his local church.

Andre Cipta, MD

Curt LaFrance Jr., MD, MPH, FAAN, FANPA, DFAPA is Director of Neuropsychiatry and Behavioral Neurology at Rhode Island Hospital and Professor of Psychiatry and Neurology at Brown University Warren Alpert Medical  School. He is Director of the VA Mind Brain Program, Staff Physician at the Providence Veterans Affairs Medical Center and Clinical Lead for the National TeleMental Health Center Tele-seizures  Clinic. He studied at Wake Forest University (B.A. in Psychology), Medical College of Georgia  (M.D.) and Brown University (MPH). He trained in Brown’s combined neurology/psychiatry residency and is double boarded. He has served on the Epilepsy Foundation Professional Advisory Board and has chaired task forces with the American Epilepsy Society and International League Against Epilepsy. He has received grants from EF, AES, the Matthew Siravo Memorial Foundation, Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense, and a National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke K23 Award. He directed the combined residency at Brown from 2012-19 and has served as research advisor or mentor to Brown undergraduates in neurobiology and psychology; residents in psychiatry, neurology and neuropsychiatry; and faculty. He trains clinicians around the country using distance supervision in treatment delivery for seizures, movement disorders, head injuries and somatic symptom disorders, based on a whole-person, integrative medicine bio-psycho-social-spiritual approach. His research focuses on developing new biomarkers and treatments for neuropsychiatric aspects of epilepsy, conversion (functional neurological) disorders and traumatic brain injury. His studies are published in neurology and psychiatry journals. He serves on journal editorial boards and is co-editor of the fourth edition of Nonepileptic Seizures, and co-author of Taking Control of Your Seizures: Workbook and Taking Control of Your Seizures: Therapist Guide. A goal of his work at Brown, nationally and internationally, has been to bridge neurology and psychiatry clinical practice and scientific research and to dissolve arbitrary boundaries between the two fields.

Curt LaFrance Jr., MD, MPH, FAAN, FANPA, DFAPA
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October 19, 2022
"Rise & Triumph of the Modern Self"
Speaker:

COMING SOON

Carl Trueman, PhD
Professor of Biblical & Religious Studies, Grove City College
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November 16, 2022
A Christian’s Walk in Academic Medicine
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December 2022
BREAK