Chairman of the Dalai Lama Foundation Dr James R Doty will share his knowledge of compassion and selflessness at the inaugural University of Queensland Compassion Symposium this week.

Dr Doty, founder and director of the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education at Stanford University, will deliver The Compassion Imperative as the keynote address for the symposium at a free public lecture on Friday, 5 September.

The symposium is the first of its kind in Australia and will bring together academics, clinicians, researchers and students from various disciplines to discuss the role of compassion in their research, studies or practice.

Head of UQ’s School of Psychology Professor Virginia Slaughter said the school was delighted to be hosting a leader of such international acclaim.

“We are pleased to offer staff, students and members of the community access to one of the world’s leading experts in compassion and altruism,” she said.

“It is an honour to welcome Dr Doty to the symposium, where he will share his views about how being compassionate not only benefits the receiver but has a profound effect on the giver.

“Various studies across the world have demonstrated how a lack of compassion and social connectedness can make you more vulnerable to disease and death, even more so than traditional risk factors such as smoking, blood pressure, obesity and lack of physical activity.

“The act of experiencing compassion and helping others actually leads to tremendous mental and physical well-being for us all.”

Dr Doty will look at the evolutionary antecedents that result in compassionate behaviour and how being compassion affects our mental and physical health, and longevity.

Recent literature in neuroscience and psychology will also be reviewed and discussed.

The UQ Compassion Symposium will commence with the free public lecture on Friday, 5 September at 6.15pm in the Abel Smith Lecture Theatre (building 23), Room 101, UQ St Lucia campus, followed by a full-day conference on Saturday, 6 September.

For more information and to register for the symposium, please visit http://www.psy.uq.edu.au/compassion. The symposium program is available here.

Media: Helen Burdon, Marketing and Communications, Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences, 3365 7436, 0412 744 437, h.burdon@uq.edu.au