WEBSITE • http://www.andrewnewberg.com/
Assistant
Professor in Radiology and Psychiatry
University of Pennsylvania
Conventional Medicine
Andrew B. Newberg, M.D. is currently an Assistant Professor in
the Department of Radiology and Psychiatry at the Hospital of
the University of Pennsylvania and is a staff physician in Nuclear
Medicine. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania School
of Medicine in 1993. He did his training in Internal Medicine
at the Graduate Hospital in Philadelphia, serving as Chief Resident
in his final year. Following his internal medicine training, he
completed a Fellowship in Nuclear Medicine in the Division of
Nuclear Medicine, Department of Radiology, at the University of
Pennsylvania. During this time, he has actively pursued a number
of neuroimaging research projects which have included the study
of aging and dementia, epilepsy, and other neurological and psychiatric
disorders. His research which has been performed in collaboration
with the Departments of Neurology and Psychiatry has focused not
only on specific disorders, but on various activation studies
designed to explore how brain function is associated with various
mental states. He has published numerous articles and chapters
on the topics of brain function and neuroimaging and has presented
his research at both national and international meetings. He also
has made education an important part of his career, participating
on education and curriculum committees both at the University
of Pennsylvania and at Graduate Hospital. He has trained medical
students, internal medicine residents, radiology residents, and
nuclear medicine fellows. He is Board Certified in Internal Medicine,
Nuclear Medicine, and Nuclear Cardiology.
Complementary Medicine
Dr. Newberg has been particularly involved in the study of mystical
and religious experiences as well as the more general mind/body
relationship in both the clinical and research aspects of his
career. Much of his research has focused on the relationship between
brain function and various mystical and religious experiences.
His research also includes understanding the physiological correlates
of acupuncture therapy, meditation, and other types of alternative
therapies. He has taught medical students, undergraduate and graduate
students, as well as medical residents about stress management,
spirituality and health, and the neurophysiology of religious
experience. He has published numerous articles and chapters on
brain function, brain imaging, and the study of religious and
mystical experiences. He has also co-authored two books entitled,
"Why God Won't Go Away: Brain Science and the Biology of
Belief" and "The Mystical Mind: Probing the Biology
of Belief" that explore the relationship between neuroscience
and spiritual experience. The latter book received the 2000 award
for Outstanding Books in Theology and the Natural Sciences presented
by the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences. He has been
involved in the teaching of the physiological basis of various
alternative medicine techniques including the importance of spirituality
in medical practice. He has also developed and led several stress
management programs for the University of Pennsylvania Health
System. Recently he received a Center for Theology and the Natural
Sciences, Science and Religion Course Award to teach the course
entitled, "The Biology of Spirituality," in the Department
of Religious Studies, University of Pennsylvania (Spring, 2000).
He has presented his work at scientific and religious meetings
throughout the world and has appeared on Good Morning America,
ABC World News Tonight as well as in a number of media articles
including Newsweek, the New Scientist and the National Catholic
Reporter. He was an associate director of the Neuroscience Section
for the consensus conference on Scientific Research on Spirituality
and Health sponsored by the National Institute of Healthcare Research
and was a member of the advisory board for the American Association
for the Advancement of Science Program on Science and Religion.
BOOKS
- Why God Won't Go Away: Brain Science and the Biology of Belief
(2001, Ballantine)
- The Mystical Mind: Probing the Biology of Belief (1999, Augsburg
Fortress Press)
