Internationally renown scholar of mindfulness Rhonda Magee has described justice as “love in action for the alleviation of suffering”. She goes further by stating that “Justice begins with our awareness of the present moment, extends through caring for ourselves, and show up in the love we bring to our interactions with others and our responses to the social challenges of our time.”

With these statements in mind, Dr. Sará King will present on her research on the “Science of Social Justice” a way of utilizing a scientific lens to study (research), teach (facilitate), and offer healing to individuals and communities from the dis-ease of othering as an act of justice - informed by an interdisciplinary framework that merges medical and cultural anthropology, political science, ethnic studies, feminist and queer studies, interpersonal neurobiology, cognitive and affective neuroscience, psychology, socio-linguistics, and public health - and fundamentally grounded in mindfulness and compassion practices in relationship with the self and community.

Dr. King will also present on her research with Dr. Raina Croff at OHSU (Oregon Health Science University) that exemplifies the “Science of Social Justice” in action by discussing the present-day impact of gentrification and urban renewal in communities of color and how this has contributed to a modern day health care crisis in terms of the spread of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and dementia. She will also discuss the approaches she is developing with Dr. Croff at OHSU for community-level intervention development to help prevent the spread of (AD) involving the use of mindfulness as a non-pharmacological complementary alternative medical approach to create culturally celebratory ways of healing and empowering the hearts, minds, and bodies of our society's most vulnerable populations.