Dean Hamer is a geneticist and director of the Gene Structure and Regulation Unit at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Md. He is the author of The God Gene: How Faith Is Hardwired Into Our Genes. His hypothesis, criticized by some other scientists, is that some people inherit a gene that predisposes them toward faith in […]

The Center for Inquiry works to foster a secular society devoted to humanist values and freedom of inquiry. Its public education programs focus on paranormal and fringe science claims; religion, ethics and society; and medicine and health. The center is based in Amherst, New York, and has branches throughout the U.S. and the world. Robyn […]

The World Federation of Right to Die Societies links to dozens of right-to-die organizations throughout the world and provides information on the latest developments on the issue.

Dr. J. Cameron Muir is president of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine, which issued a position statement on Feb. 14, 2007, on “physician-assisted death.”

The International Association for Hospice and Palliative Care in Houston maintains a searchable directory of organizations that concern themselves with hospice and palliative care. Programs can be searched by state.

Kenneth L. Vaux is a professor of theological ethics at Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary of Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill. He has written about theology and medicine and is the co-author of Dying Well (Abingdon Press, 1996).

The Rev. John J. Paris is a Jesuit priest who teaches in the theology department of Boston College. He has been a consultant to the President’s Commission for the Study of Ethics in Medicine and the United States Senate Committee on Aging and presented to Gregorian University in Rome on Catholic approaches to end-of-life care.

Dr. Daniel Sulmasy is a professor of medicine and ethics at the University of Chicago. Sulmasy is a Franciscan friar and a physician. He also holds a doctorate in philosophy and has expertise in end-of-life decision-making. His writings include “Are Feeding Tubes Morally Obligatory?” in the January 2006 St. Anthony Messenger, examining Catholic teachings about extraordinary medical […]

Dr. R. Sean Morrison is a professor of palliative careat Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York. He co-edited a book on geriatric palliative care and is director of the National Palliative Care Research Center.