Interdisciplinary Panel "I was Bleeding for My Sins"

The Interdisciplinary Panel was moderated by Dr. Tracy Balboni and centered around a case study entitled "I was Bleeding for my Sins". The panel was composed of several speakers who each are considered experts in their fields, and illustrated the various modes in which the illness experience can be explored.

Panelist Biographies:

Dr. Tracy Balboni, MD, MPH: Dr. Balboni is a graduate of Stanford University, Harvard Medical School, and the Harvard School of Public Health.  She is a radiation oncologist at the Brigham and Women's Hospital and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute with board certification in palliative care.  Tracy's primary research interests are in palliative care, including the psychosocial aspects of advanced cancer and radiotherapy for palliation.

Dr. Harold Koenig, MD: Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and Associate Professor of Medicine at Duke University, and Director of Duke's Center for Spirituality, Theology and Health. He is a widely recognized leader in the field of spirituality and health.

Dr. Linda Barnes, PhD: Professor in the Departments of Family Medicine at Boston University School of Medicine, and the Division of Religious and Theological Studies at Boston University. A medical anthropologist, religion scholar and historian, she co-founded and directs the Boston University M.A. Program in Medical Anthropology  and Cross-Cultural Practice, which includes a track in the study of religions, medicines, and healing.

Rev. Gloria E. White-Hammond, MD, MDiv. : is the Co-Pastor of Bethel AME Church, Boston, MA, and Executive Director of My Sister’s Keeper, www.mskeeper.org, and a retired pediatrician from the South End Community Health Center. Dr. White-Hammond’s community service spans three decades and two continents. In 1994 she founded the church-based creative writing/mentoring ministry, “Do The Write Thing” for high-risk adolescent females. The project now serves over 200 young women through small groups in Boston public schools, juvenile detention facilities and on site at Bethel AME Church.

Dr. Heather Curtis, PhD.: Associate Professor in the Department of Religion at Tufts University. She is the author of Faith in the Great Physician: Suffering and Divine Healing in American Culture, 1860-1900 (2007), which was awarded the Frank S. and Elizabeth D. Brewer prize from the American Society of Church History for the best first book in the History of Christianity.

Rev. George Handzo, MDiv. : The Director of Health Services Research and Quality at HealthCare Chaplaincy Network and President of Handzo Consulting. He was the Director of Chaplaincy Services at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center for over twenty years, and is a past President of the Association of Professional Chaplains which in 2011 awarded him the Anton Boisen Professional Service Award, its highest honor.

Attached you will find the PDF of the Case Study that each of the Panelists was responding to.