2026 Conference on Medicine and Religion to Feature Distinguished Speakers, Sacred Music, Sound Healing, and Group Discussions. Early Bird Pricing Available through Feb. 22
NEWS RELEASE
HOUSTON, Texas (Feb. 20, 2026) – The 2026 Conference on Medicine and Religion will be held March 22 through March 24 at the Houston Hilton Post Oak by the Galleria, 2001 Post Oak Blvd., in Houston. Co-hosts for this year’s conference are the Institute for Spirituality and Health at the Texas Medical Center and Baylor University Center for Ethics.
The conference will feature several distinguished speakers and panelists.To see a brief video about the Conference on Medicine and Religion and its purpose, please click here.
To register, please visit https://www.spiritualityandhealth.org/events/cmr2026. Early bird pricing is available through Feb. 22, 2026.
Launched in Chicago in May 2012, the Conference on Medicine and Religion remains a leading forum for discourse and scholarship at the intersection of medicine and religion. The conference enables health and wellness professionals and scholars to gain a deeper, practical understanding of how religion relates to the practice of medicine.
The theme of this year’s conference is “The Prophetic Voice: Creativity, Compassion, and the Pursuit of Healing.” The 2026 conference is returning to Houston for the first time since 2017. The agenda includes presentations from distinguished speakers, group discussions and workshops, sound healing sessions, sacred music, and excursions to Houston area museums and places of worship and/or contemplation.
Stuart Nelson, president and chief executive officer of the Institute, explained the theme: “Our 2026 Conference invites participants to explore how the expressions of religious traditions have the capacity to critique and to reimagine medicine and the pursuit of healing. Religious traditions offer not only moral frameworks, but also cultural expressions—such as music, rituals, architecture, food, and stories. This sustains communities in times of suffering and transformation. Likewise in medicine, healing practices always involve more than just clinical intervention -- they draw on deep wells of creativity, imagination, presence, and meaning.”
On March 23, Nelson will lead “A Conversation with Dr. Peter Hotez,” which features a welcome, plenary session, and Riyaaz Qawwali musical prayer. Dr. Hotez is the dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine. Their conversation will focus on the concept of “Science Tikkun”, a method for addressing a broken world using science and compassion. Dr. Hotez will also discuss his work during the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on burnout, public mistrust, and the ways medicine and religion can heal bodies, minds, and souls.
On March 23, Daniel P. Sulmasy, M.D, Ph.D., will be a featured speaker, sharing his knowledge and experience as a philosopher with a focus on ethics and spirituality in medicine. His presentation is entitled “Profession, Prophesy, and Healing.” Dr. Sulmasy is an André Hellegers professor of Biomedical Ethics in the Departments of Medicine and Philosophy and director of the Kennedy Institute of Ethics at Georgetown University.
On March 24, Imam Abdullah Antepli, president of the Rothko Chapel in Houston, and Rev. Laura Mayo, senior minister of Covenant Church Houston, will deliver the presentation “Prophetic Friendship, Sacred Space, and the Healing of Medicine.” Accompanied by the Texas Medical Center Orchestra, their presentation will focus on medicine and public life. Abdullah Antepli and Mayo will discuss challenges in the medical system as viewed through the lens of both Islamic and Christian traditions.
More about the Conference
Each year, the conference is organized by a local planning committee of clinicians and scholars who work at the intersection of medicine and religion. The conference features keynote speakers and presentations of peer-reviewed papers, panels, workshops, and poster sessions.
“Baylor University Center for Ethics is an ideal co-host for the Conference on Medicine and Religion due to its status as a national thought leader in medical humanities and clinical ethics with a strong faith-based foundation. It has been a pleasure to work with our colleagues at Baylor to plan what will be a tremendous offering for the field,” Nelson said.
“Baylor University Center for Ethics is a proud sponsor of the Conference on Medicine and Religion. This gathering fosters meaningful dialogue among healthcare professionals and ethicists seeking to integrate religion and spirituality into healthcare,” said Devan Stahl, PhD, associate professor of Bioethics and Religion at Baylor University and sponsoring institution representative for the 2026 conference.
2026 Local Sponsoring Institutions include The Boniuk Institute for the Study and Advancement of Religious Tolerance at Rice University, the McGovern Center for Humanities and Ethics at UTHealth Houston, Memorial Hermann, and Rice University’s Medical Humanities Research Institute.
The local planning committee includes leaders from across the Texas Medical Center: Baylor College of Medicine, Houston Methodist, Memorial Hermann, Menninger Clinic, Michael DeBakey VA Medical Center, Rice University’s Medical Humanities Research Institute, UH College of Medicine, and UTHealth Houston.
For more information about this conference, please visit:
https://www.spiritualityandhealth.org/events/cmr2026.
About the Institute for Spirituality and Health at the Texas Medical Center
The Institute is an independent, interfaith organization established in 1955. A founding member of the world-renowned Texas Medical Center, it continues to make a meaningful difference by cultivating well-being for all community members.
The Institute’s mission is to enhance well-being by exploring the relationship between spirituality and health. It advances this mission through education, research, and direct service programs, guided by its four Centers of Excellence: the Rabbi Samuel E. Karff Center for Healthcare Professionals, the Center for Body, Spirit, and Mind, the Center for End of Life and Aging, and the Center for Faith and Public Health. For more information about the Institute, please visit www.spiritualityandhealth.org.
Media Contact:
Laura Pennino, Senior PR Consultant for The Institute for Spirituality and Health at the Texas Medical Center
mobile: 713-419-1776 | email: lp@penninoandpartners.com