A primary mission of the Benson-Henry Institute is to provide strong scientific support for mind body approaches to care.
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BHI Human Clinical Research
Located within the Massachusetts General Hospital, our research center is dedicated to examining the effects and mechanisms of mind-body approaches. The BHI, through uncompromising basic and translational scientific research, helps to pave the way toward more widespread incorporation of mind-body methods and practices in a variety of settings. Our research has led to the development of useful methodological tools, including manualized, research-supported interventions and a gene expression signature associated with RR response. In a global era where individuals, communities, and the world are seeking innovative and mindful solutions to our health problems, BHI offers information on the mechanisms of action and efficacy of a variety of mind-body interventions.
Our Mission
BHI conducts rigorous interdisciplinary research on our mind-body programs, adapting them to fit a variety of populations. The BHI collaborators represent an integrated team with a broad array of research methodologies from behavioral to neuroscientific to genomic. BHI engages in translational research and outreach with the goal of cultivating healthy qualities of the mind at the individual, community and global levels. While humbled by this daunting research mission, we nevertheless feel the time is right to pursue it given the strength of the overall research enterprise which MGH provides.
Our Team
The Human Clinical Research is under the direction of John Denninger, MD, PhD. He is assisted by Elyse Park, PhD, MPH, Chief of the Behavioral Health Section, and three research coordinators—Vivian Haime, Jolene Jacquart, and Halsey Niles. Our collaborators include Sat Bir Khalsa, PhD; Elizabeth Hoge, MD; Sara Lazar, PhD; Towia Liberman, PhD; Manoj Bhasin, PhD; Jacob Laubach, MD; Paul Richardson, MD; Albert Yeung, MD; Kent Wilson, PhD; Jeff Huffman, MD; Patricia Hibberd, MD, PhD; Eric Macklin, PhD; Lara Traeger, PhD; Ana-Maria Vranceanu, PhD; John Levine, MD, PhD; and Jeff Dusek, PhD.
Current Research Projects Include:
- Comparing the effects and mechanisms of three stress reduction training programs on psychological, biological, neurological and genomic outcomes
- Measuring the genomic and psychosocial effects of the Relaxation Response Resiliency Program (3RP) on patients with MGUS and Smoldering Multiple Myeloma
- Developing a Coping and Resiliency Enhancement Program (CARE) for medical interpreters in cancer care
