Marlene Samuelson

B.A., State University of New York at Buffalo
Ph.D., Case Western Reserve University

Marlene Samuelson's formal training is in Cellular, Molecular, and Developmental Biology. After completing two postdoctoral fellowships in these areas, she went on to broaden her learning and interests to include Social and Political aspects of Science, and Mind-Body Connections in human health. She teaches a wide variety of courses, including Introductory Biology, Microbiology, Cell Biology, and Introduction to the Sciences. In her teaching, learning, and research, Dr. Samuelson is an interdisciplinary thinker and has helped to create and teach cross-listed interdisciplinary courses, such as "Sex and Gender: Biological and Sociological Perspectives," and "Human Sexuality." Recently, she was first author on a research paper reflecting these inter-disciplinary interests: "Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction in Massachusetts Correctional Facilities" (The Prison Journal, vol. 87 #2, June 2007). This was a result of her collaboration with Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn and colleagues at the Center for Mindfulness at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Currently, Dr. Samuelson is a member of the research group at the Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital; she is analyzing the efficacy of a clinical program called the Medical Symptom Reduction Program. Some of the Biology majors at Curry have participated with her and others in research at this Institute, including studies of Infertility.