About Me
I obtained a medical degree (MD) at Federal University of Juiz de Fora (UFJF) and was trained in psychiatry and cognitive-behavioral therapy at the Institute of Psychiatry of the University of São Paulo, Brazil, where I also obtained my PhD in Health Sciences. Formerly a postdoctoral fellow in religion and health at Duke University, I am now Associate Professor of Psychiatry at UFJF's School of Medicine and Founder and Director of the Research Center in Spirituality and Health, Brazil (www.ufjf.br/nupes-eng). I was Vice-Dean of Graduate studies at UFJF. Chair of the WPA (World Psychiatric Association) Section on Religion, Spirituality and Psychiatry and coordinator of the section on spirituality of the Brazilian Psychiatric Association. My main research interests involve the exploration of the association between religiosity and health, empirical studies of spiritual experiences as well as the methodology, history and epistemology of this research