The Buddha The Scientist 2025 Retreat and Symposium

The Thich Nhat Hanh Center for Mindfulness in Public Health collaborated with Dartmouth College on The Buddha The Scientist 2025 Retreat and Symposium

Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh (Thay) envisioned scientists coming together in discussion and practice to explore how mindfulness can help them approach today’s greatest challenges with creativity, collaboration, and joy.

Buddhist monastic Dharma teachers from the Plum Village tradition, who recently attended the Center’s symposium, traveled to Dartmouth to take part in this gathering. Their mission for this trip was to bring Thay’s vision to life by sharing practical ways to integrate mindfulness into daily life to support well-being and foster collective solutions. Participants included students, trainees, faculty, staff, and lay practitioners. Participants from the Department of Nutrition included: Dr. Frank Hu, Dr. Stephanie Smith-Warner, Nour Hammad, and Dawn DeCosta.

On April 5–6, a mindfulness retreat was held, led by monastics from Plum Village. The event concluded with a keynote address by Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD, a member of the Thich Nhat Hanh Center for Mindfulness in Public Health Advisory Board. Dr. Kabat-Zinn is internationally renowned as a scientist, author, and meditation teacher, recognized for his pioneering work in integrating mindfulness into mainstream medicine and society. He is Professor of Medicine Emeritus at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, where he founded the world-renowned Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) Clinic in 1979 and the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society in 1995.

On April 7^th there was a full day of science talks and a trainee panel discussion. Talks included: Sara Lazar, PhD, Mass General Hospital; Harvard Medical School; Steven Leach, MD, Dartmouth Cancer Center; Eric Loucks, PhD, Mindfulness Center, Brown University; Jorg Matschullat, PhD, Irving Institute, Dartmouth College; Zaneta Thayer, PhD, Dartmouth College; and, Elli Weisbaum, PhD, University of Toronto.