David B. Larson, M.D., was a psychiatrist trained at Duke, who founded and directed the National Institute for Healthcare Research and was a leader in the religion and health research field. He died suddenly at the young age of 54 on March 5, 2002. The David B. Larson Memorial Lecture was established in 2003 to honor Dr. Larson’s pioneering work.
David B. Larson Memorial Lecture
The 24th Annual David B. Larson Memorial Lecture will be held Thursday, March 5, 2026. The speaker in 2026 will be Lisa Miller, Ph.D., from Columbia University in New York City.
The title, location and time of the lecture are listed below. All are welcome and no reservation is required. Contact Dr. Koenig (Harold.Koenig@duke.edu) for more information.
Title: Science on Spirituality as the Antidote to our National Mental Health Crisis
Brief Summary: We face a national mental health crisis of depression, suicide and addiction, as well as social ills of loneliness and fractionation. While these struggles strike Americans in all decades of life, the weight is carried most heavily by our youth and Gen Z. Yet when we look through the lens of science we see that the so-called poly crisis facing the United States is indeed a singular, meta crisis. Even better, we have a powerful antidote immediately available to our country. Peer reviewed research shows broad and profound benefits of spirituality and religion in protecting against the diseases of despair, building authentic relationship and discerning an ultimate purpose. Epidemiological studies, MRI research and intervention studies all point to the same solution: engaging the spiritual core of the whole person, across treatment, wellness and formation, education and civil society. Our country has a historical foundation through which to renew and thrive. Now, working together, we have the opportunity to renew spiritual awareness in youth across medicine, faith and Community.
Thursday, March 5, 2026
5:30 – 6:30PM (in-person only) (not being recorded or broadcast remotely)
Location: Duke Divinity School, 0016 Westbrook Lecture Hall
Presented by: Lisa Miller, Ph.D.
Lisa Miller, PhD, is a professor in the Clinical Psychology Program at Teachers College, Columbia University where she founded the Spirituality Mind Body Institute, the first Ivy League graduate program and research institute in spirituality and psychology, and has held over a decade of joint appointments in the Department of Psychiatry at Columbia University Medical School. Her innovative research has been published in more than two hundred peer-reviewed chapters and articles including Cerebral Cortex, The American Journal of Psychiatry, and the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and she has lead as Principal Investigator on multiple grants. Dr. Miller is Editor of the Oxford University Press Handbook of Psychology and Spirituality (Eds 1 and 2), Founding Co-Editor-in-Chief of the APA journal Spirituality in Clinical Practice, an elected Fellow of The American Psychological Association (APA) and the two-time President of the APA Society for Psychology and Spirituality. A graduate of Yale University and University of Pennsylvania, where she earned her doctorate under the founder of positive psychology, Martin Seligman, she has served as Principal Investigator on multiple grant funded research studies. Dr. Miller speaks extensively on her bestselling books on spirituality in mental health, The Awakened Brain and The Spiritual Child for the United States government and military, businesses (including tech, finance, HR and sales), personal development, faith based organizations, schools and universities, healthcare, and for national mental health and wellness initiatives.
