Marianne P. Florian, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Fellow in Religion and Medicine

ISH, Rabbi Samuel M. Karff Center for Healthcare Professionals
UTHealth, McGovern Center for Humanities and Ethics

Dr. Marianne Florian serves as the Institute for Spirituality and Health’s inaugural Post-Doctoral Fellow in Religion and Medicine. This position is shared with the McGovern Center for Humanities and Ethics at UTHealth McGovern Medical School. In this dual role, Dr. Florian instructs medical students in humanities and ethics and organizes training programs in spirituality and health for the Institute's Rabbi Samuel E. Karff Center for Healthcare Professionals. The Karff Center’s courses, internships, conferences, and symposia in spirituality and health (S&H) fosters the community and the expertise of healthcare professionals who value spirituality for their professional wellbeing and are interested in its role in overall health. These programs also serve to interweave the various strands of spirituality and health research and teaching into a more complete tapestry. Towards these ends, Dr. Florian is developing a holistic spirituality and health curriculum for medical students, incorporating the study of scientific perspectives, contemporary healthcare ethics, global religious cultures, spiritually-informed patient care, professional wellbeing, and spiritual formation principles. 

Dr. Florian is an active member of the American Academy of Religion and the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities. She is affiliated with Emory University’s Center for Contemplative Science and Compassion-Based Ethics and Center for Mind, Brain, and Culture. Her various collaborations have appeared in peer-reviewed journals such as Frontiers in Psychology, Mindfulness, and PLOS ONE. Prior to joining the Institute, Dr. Florian taught courses in religion and health in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of South Florida.

Dr. Florian earned a Ph.D. from Emory University in American Religious Cultures with a Graduate Certificate in Mind, Brain, and Culture. She also holds a Master of Theological Studies from the Candler School of Theology, as well as a Master of Arts and Bachelor of Arts degree in French from the University of South Carolina.

She has received numerous awards and honors in her academic career. These include the Mellon PhD Interventions Project Dissertation Completion Fellowship and the George W. Woodruff Fellowship, both from the Laney Graduate School at Emory University. She was also awarded the McNair Scholarship and the National Merit Scholarship during her undergraduate studies at the University of South Carolina.

Dr. Florian speaks French and Spanish and enjoys a variety of creative hobbies and interests, such as collage, perfumery, and making clothing. In her free time, she loves spending time with her family, friends, and cats.