A Multidisciplinary Approach to Near-Death Science: A Panel Discussion with Moody, Alexander, Newell, & Kerr

There are remarkable similarities between near-death experiences and what happens when we are close to dying. This inescapable part of living adds to our understanding of human consciousness and how that information can be used to improve our lives here and now. With medical doctors Raymond Moody, Eben Alexander, and Christopher Kerr. Moderated by Karen Newell.

Academic neurosurgeon Dr. Eben Alexander III, whose career includes decades as a physician and associate professor at Harvard Medical School and revered teaching hospitals, was once staunchly committed to the materialist world view -- the belief that the physical world is all that exists. His scientific belief system was altered by his 2008 transcendental near-death experience (NDE), an odyssey into another realm during a week-long coma. Despite a bleak medical prognosis, Dr. Alexander awoke to make an inexplicable return to full health. His medical case and recovery were validated in the peer-reviewed Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease. Since his NDE, Dr. Alexander has been reconciling his rich spiritual experience with quantum physics, cosmology and the philosophy of mind. Dr. Alexander speaks around the world to educate about the role that consciousness plays in wellness, healing and recovery. A pioneering scientist and modern thought leader, Dr. Alexander has been featured in more than 400 media interviews including for ABC-TV’s Good Morning America and 20/20, The Dr. Oz Show, Oprah’s Super Soul Sunday, Larry King Now, Fox and Friends, Discovery Channel, Biography Channel and numerous radio broadcasts and podcasts around the world. His books are available in more than 40 countries: Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Afterlife, The Map of Heaven: How Science, Religion, and Ordinary People Are Proving the Afterlife, and Living in a Mindful Universe: A Neurosurgeon’s Journey into the Heart of Consciousness, co-authored with Sacred Acoustics co-founder Karen Newell. www.ebenalexander.com

Christopher Kerr is the Chief Medical Officer and Chief Executive Officer at Hospice and Palliative Care Buffalo. Born and raised in Toronto, Canada, Chris earned his MD as well as a PhD in Neurobiology. Outside of direct patient care, Chris’ focus is in the area of patient advocacy. His passion is palliative care and a belief that such care should be throughout the continuum of illness. Under Dr. Kerr’s medical leadership, Hospice Buffalo now serves 1,200 patients a day, half of whom receive services prior to hospice. Dr. Kerr’s background in research has evolved from bench science towards the human experience of illness as witnessed from the bedside, specifically patient’s dreams and visions at the end of life. Although medically ignored, these near universal experiences often provide comfort and meaning, as well as insight into the life led and the death anticipated. To date, the research team at Hospice Buffalo has published multiple studies on this topic and documented over 1,500 end-of-life events, many of which are videotaped. This work was the subject of his TEDx Buffalo Talk which has been viewed over 5 million times. It has been the subject of numerous reports around the world as well as The BBC, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic Monthly, Scientific American Mind, Huffington Post, and Psychology Today. It is also featured in a recent docu-series on Netflix called Surviving Death and a PBS Documentary called Death Is but A Dream. Dr. Kerr’s work has also been published in a book (Death Is but A Dream) by Penguin Random House which was released in 2020 in over 10 languages. Dr. Kerr lives on a horse farm in East Aurora, NY. More information at www.drchristopherkerr.com

Raymond Moody coined the term near death experience in his book Life After Life in 1975. For more than half a century, he has researched some of life’s greatest mysteries. Holding both a Ph.D. in philosophy and an M.D., he has had a strong interest in how medical realities intersect with the ineffable realm of philosophy. In his multiple roles as author, professor, public speaker and grief counselor, Moody has heard thousands of accounts of near death, shared death, and after death experiences. He never expected that his interest in the afterlife would become such a focus of his life’s work, which has led to great insights, associations, and friendships. Throughout his five-decade career, Dr. Moody has explored themes related to the trans-personal aspects of death, dying and grief. He has written numerous other books, including Glimpses of Eternity (the phenomena of shared death experiences), Coming Back (past lives), and Reunions(methods for evoking the dead, from Ancient Greece to modern times).

Dr. Moody also has a passion for language, which he shares with colleague and co-founder of the Life After Life Institute, Lisa Smartt. His Ph.D. dissertation in philosophy focused on unintelligibility and his new book, Making Sense of Nonsense (Llewellyn 2020), explores what nonsense teaches us about consciousness and altered states of being. For years, he has imagined a forum in which leading-edge researchers and thinkers could share their most up-to-date investigations into near death phenomena while also drawing upon the wisdom of the ancients, whose practices and customs clearly recognized a life beyond this one. With the help of his friends and colleagues, Dr. Moody hopes to share with each of you all we have discovered at the most fascinating frontiers of life and death.

Karen Newell is an author and specialist in personal development with a diverse body of work that rests upon the foundation of heart-centered consciousness. Her personal growth programs, workshops, guided meditations and teachings enable individuals to achieve life transformations towards greater self-fulfillment and contentment, quality relationships and choices aligned with one’s soul calling. As an innovator in the emerging field of brainwave entrainment audio meditation, Karen empowers others in their journeys of self-discovery. Using Sacred Acoustics recordings and other techniques, she teaches how to enter and engage with your inner world to connect to guidance, achieve inspiration, improve wellness and develop intuition. Karen is co-author with Eben Alexander III, M.D. of Living in a Mindful Universe (2017). At international workshops presented with Dr. Alexander, Karen demonstrates key practices of consciousness exploration: heart awareness, intention, maintaining neutrality, emotional management and cultivating internal knowing. www.sacredacoustics.com

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