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Dr. Elena Antonova is a Senior Lecturer in Psychology at Brunel University London and a Visiting Researcher at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN), King’s College London.
After completing her B.Sc. in Psychology at University College London and her Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology at the IoPPN, she held a number of postdoctoral research positions and was awarded the Templeton Positive Neuroscience Award, after which she joined the IoPPN as a Lecturer in Psychology.
Dr. Antonova is the author of numerous scientific publications on the effect of long-term meditation practice. Her research highlights the positive impact of meditation on mental health and wellbeing, as well as its role in managing and preventing mental disorders.
She has been actively involved in the Mind & Life Institute and Mind & Life Europe, promoting interdisciplinary scientific research into the effects of contemplative practices. In 2017, she was elected a Mind & Life Research Fellow for her contribution to contemplative science.
Dr. Elena Antonova is a Senior Lecturer in Psychology at Brunel University London and a Visiting Researcher at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN), King’s College London.
After completing her BSc in Psychology at University College London and her PhD in Cognitive Psychology at the IoPPN, she held a number of postdoctoral research positions and was awarded the Templeton Positive Neuroscience Award, following which she joined the IoPPN as a Lecturer in Psychology.
Dr. Antonova is the author of numerous scientific publications on the effect of long-term meditation practice. Her research highlights the positive impact of meditation on mental health and wellbeing, as well as its role in managing and preventing mental disorders.
She has been actively involved in the Mind & Life Institute and Mind & Life Europe, promoting interdisciplinary scientific research into the effects of contemplative practices. In 2017, she was elected a Mind & Life Research Fellow for her contribution to contemplative science.
Father Laurence Freeman OSB is a Catholic priest and a Benedictine monk of the Monastery of St. Maria di Pilastrello, in Italy, and the Director of the World Community for Christian Meditation.
After completing his studies in theology at the Université de Montreal and at McGill University, he made his Solemn Monastic Profession in 1979 and was ordained to priesthood in 1980. Together with his spiritual teacher, Father John Main, he helped to establish Christian Meditation Centres in London and Montreal.
After the death of John Main, he continued teaching meditation, and in 1991 returned to England to establish the International Centre of the newly formed World Community for Christian Meditation, which is now present in more than a hundred countries.
Author of numerous articles and books on meditation and Christianity, he joined His Holiness the Dalai Lama for a series of dialogues, which inspired the book ‘A Good Heart’.
Before entering monastic life, Father Laurence studied English Literature at New College, University of Oxford, and worked with the United Nations in New York.
Father Laurence Freeman OSB is a Catholic priest and a Benedictine monk of Monastery of Sta Maria di Pilastrello, in Italy, and the Director of the World Community for Christian Meditation.
After completing his studies in theology at the Universite de Montreal and at McGill University, he made his solemn monastic profession in 1979 and was ordained to priesthood in 1980. Together with his spiritual teacher, Fr John Main, he helped to establish Christian Meditation Centres in London and Montreal.
After the death of John Main, he continued teaching meditation, and in 1991 returned to England to establish the International Centre of the newly formed World Community for Christian Meditation, which is now present in more than a hundred countries.
Author of numerous articles and books on meditation and Christianity, he joined His Holiness the Dalai Lama for a series of dialogues, which inspired the book ‘A Good Heart’.
Before entering monastic life, Fr. Laurence studied English Literature at New College, Oxford University, and worked with the United Nations in New York.
Venerable Geshe Tenzin Namdak is the resident teacher at Jamyang Buddhist Centre London, and is internationally known for his teachings on Buddhist ethics, philosophy and psychology.
After taking ordination from His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Geshe Namdak completed a twenty-year study programme in Buddhist psychology and philosophy at Sera Jey University, and was the first Westerner to complete the one-year Vajrayana study programme at Gyume Tantric College.
He was a founding teacher of Sera Jey’s Translators Programme, a member of Sera Jey’s Education Department, and the first director of Shendrup Sungdrei Ling, a house for western monks studying at Sera Jey. He was also one of the trustees and teachers of the KCSL centre in Bangalore, responsible for the preservation and the continuation of the teachings of the Nalanda tradition of Buddhism.
Geshe Namdak holds a degree in Hydrology, and before taking ordination worked as an environmental researcher for the Dutch government.
Venerable Geshe Tenzin Namdak first worked as an environmental researcher having graduated in hydrology. He took ordination from His Holiness the Dalai Lama before engaging in his formal studies in Buddhist philosophy and psychology at Sera Jey Monastic University, South India, in 1997. He completed the entire twenty-year Geshe program at Sera Jey in 2017 and the traditional one-year Vajrayana study program at Gyume Tantric College in January 2019, the first Westerner to do so.
He was a founding teacher of Sera Jey’s Translators Program and member of Sera Jey’s Education Department for six years, was one of the founding trustees and teachers of CKSL, a (FPMT) centre that teaches the Nalanda tradition of Buddhism, Bangalore, and the first director of Shedrup Sungdrel Ling, a house for western monks studying at Sera Jey, for fifteen years.
He has received a great number of teachings from His Holiness and many other highly respected teachers and lineage masters, has done many retreats and is an experienced teacher in practical and philosophical aspects of Buddhism that he teaches with great clarity and a good sense of humour. Currently, he is the resident teacher at Jamyang Buddhist Centre, London, and teaches also at other centres in Europe and India.
Wendy Hasenkamp currently serves as Science Director at the Mind & Life Institute. She holds a PhD in Neuroscience from Emory University, where her graduate and early postdoctoral training centred around understanding the pathology of schizophrenia, using methodologies of single-cell gene expression, psychophysiology, cognitive testing, and neuroimaging. Subsequently, growing out of her personal interest in contemplative practice, she examined the neural correlates of dynamic cognitive states that occur during meditation such as focused attention and mind-wandering, with a focus on integrating brain imaging and subjective report.
Wendy is the editor of The Monastery and the Microscope, a book detailing the 2013 Mind & Life dialogue with the Dalai Lama about mind, matter, and the nature of reality. While at Emory, she also helped develop a neuroscience curriculum for Tibetan monastics in India through the Emory-Tibet Science Initiative, teaching in Dharamsala and serving as co-author and editor of several neuroscience textbooks developed through this program. Wendy has developed and taught courses in Contemplative Science at both Lesley University and the University of Virginia, where she is a Visiting Assistant Professor in the department of psychology. She publishes regularly in academic and public outlets, and gives lectures, workshops, and retreats exploring the intersection of cognitive science and meditation.
Wendy Hasenkamp currently serves as Science Director at the Mind & Life Institute. She holds a PhD in Neuroscience from Emory University, where her graduate and early postdoctoral training centred around understanding the pathology of schizophrenia, using methodologies of single-cell gene expression, psychophysiology, cognitive testing, and neuroimaging. Subsequently, growing out of her personal interest in contemplative practice, she examined the neural correlates of dynamic cognitive states that occur during meditation such as focused attention and mind-wandering, with a focus on integrating brain imaging and subjective report.
Wendy is the editor of The Monastery and the Microscope, a book detailing the 2013 Mind & Life dialogue with the Dalai Lama about mind, matter, and the nature of reality. While at Emory, she also helped develop a neuroscience curriculum for Tibetan monastics in India through the Emory-Tibet Science Initiative, teaching in Dharamsala and serving as co-author and editor of several neuroscience textbooks developed through this program. Wendy has developed and taught courses in Contemplative Science at both Lesley University and the University of Virginia, where she is a Visiting Assistant Professor in the department of psychology. She publishes regularly in academic and public outlets, and gives lectures, workshops, and retreats exploring the intersection of cognitive science and meditation.
Science & Wisdom LIVE is a project of
Jamyang London Buddhist Centre,
partnered with Mind & Life Europe.
