Kevin M. Trainor is associate professor of religion at the University of Vermont, Burlington. He can discuss attitudes toward animals in Buddhism.

Siroj Sorajjakool is an associate professor of religion at Loma Linda University in California. Sorajjakool wrote When Sickness Heals: The Place of Religious Belief in Healthcare (Templeton Foundation Press, forthcoming in April 2006) and co-edited Spirituality, Health and Wholeness: An Introductory Guide for Health Care Professionals (Haworth Press, 2004). Contact through the media office for the university.

Dr. David Spiegel is a professor of psychiatry and behavioral studies at California’s Stanford University School of Medicine and a leader in the field of psychosomatic research and psychoneuroendocrinology/oncology. Spiegel’s 1989 study showed that not only did supportive-expressive group therapy improve quality of life in women with metastatic breast cancer, it significantly enhanced survival time. This […]

Dr. Claudia Finkelstein is a clinical associate professor of medicine at the University of Washington in Seattle who teaches and writes about mind-body medicine in clinical practice and in the education of physicians.

Dr. Elizabeth Bowman is a psychiatrist and clinical professor in the neurology department at Indiana University School of Medicine. Bowman, who also holds a master’s degree in sacred theology, led a panel discussion at the university on spirituality in patient care.

Aaron Gross is an associate professor of theology and religious studies at the University of San Diego and author of The Question of the Animal and Religion: Theoretical Stakes, Practical Implications (2014). He can discuss Jewish values with regard to animals and the Torah’s proscription, called tzaar baalei hayim, against inflicting pain on any creature. […]

Stephen Webb is a professor of religion and philosophy at Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Ind., and a member of the American Academy of Religion’s group on animals and religion. He has written multiple books on animals and religion.

The American Muslim Health Professionals can help reporters find Muslim health-care professionals to discuss how Islam balances the stewardship of animals and the needs of science. Arshia Wajid is president.

The National Anti-Vivisection Society (NAVS) is an educational organization based in Chicago, Ill., whose ultimate goal is the elimination of animal use in product testing, education and biomedical research.