Meet the Team
We are a group of dedicated researchers and meditators from all over the world. Meet the team members below.
Karin Matko
Karin initiated and coordinates this research project as she is passionate about understanding how and for whom meditation works. She holds a Ph.D. in Psychology from the Chemnitz University of Technology and is currently working as a postdoc at the Contemplative Studies Centre of the University of Melbourne. As a positive psychologist, she is interested in finding ways to foster mental health and flourishing. Karin is an expert in research methodology and loves solving “statistics puzzles” in R. In addition, she is a certified yoga instructor with 10 years of teaching experience. See her profile at https://www.karinmatko.de/
Heena Kamble
Heena has a Ph.D. in Positive Organizational Behavior from University of Mumbai (India) and is currently working as an assistant professor of Psychology in India. With teaching experience in Indian Psychology, Transpersonal Psychology, Sports Psychology and Organizational Behaviour, she is an emerging contemplative researcher with interests in theory and practice of a variety of contemplative practices. She is an established content creator, poet, author and blogger. In her spare time, you will find her looking at the sky, watching K-dramas and Anime or listening to just-one favorite song on a loop. You can check out her feel-good blog on https://blog.maitri-sankalpa.net/
Liudmila Gamaiunova
Liudmila holds a Ph.D. in Religious Studies with a specialization in the Psychology of Religion. Her research focuses on the psychological, physiological, and phenomenological aspects of contemplative practices and non-ordinary experiences in spiritual/religious and secular settings. See her profile at https://www.liudmilagamaiunova.ch
Takeshi Hamamura
Takeshi is an Associate Professor at Curtin University in Australia. He received his Ph D from the University of British Columbia and specialises in cultural psychology especially socio- ecological and historical analyses of norms and values in East Asia. Born and raised in Japan, Hamamura’s journey as a migrant across diverse landscapes in the U.S., Canada, Hong Kong, and Australia has deeply influenced his academic perspectives and commitment to recentering psychology. He is an Associate Editor for the Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology.
Katherine Chen
Katherine is an Associate Professor of Applied Linguistics, the Director of the English Language Centre at the University of Macau, and an Honorary Associate Professor at the University of Hong Kong. Her research and teaching are centred around the discourse and application of mindfulness in higher education. See her profile at: https://sites.google.com/view/katherine-chen
Ivan Nyklíček
Ivan obtained his PhD in Psychology in 1997 at Tilburg University in the Netherlands and since 2009 he is Associate Professor at this university. His research focus is on attention and emotion regulation in relation to psychological wellbeing and health, an important topic being mindfulness. Effects, mechanisms and moderators of mindfulness are studied regarding psychological, cardiovascular, endocrine, and central nervous systems in various contexts (laboratory, daily life of various healthy and patient samples). His work also involves assessment of mindfulness facets. Besides his academic work, he is also mindfulness practitioner and trainer in Tilburg.
Marcelo Demarzo
Marcelo is a leading researcher in the fields of mindfulness, mental health, and health promotion, with a focus on integrating mindfulness-based interventions in healthcare and fostering self-care practices. He is a professor at the Escola Paulista de Medicina, Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP), and the head of the Mente Aberta Center (The Brazilian Center for Mindfulness and Health Promotion), where he advances research on mindfulness and its applications in clinical and preventive settings.
Jesús Montero-Marín
Jesús is a senior researcher specializing in mindfulness, mental health, and health promotion, with a particular focus on applying mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) for depression prevention and exploring the role of self-compassion in mental health interventions. He holds a tenure as a Miguel Servet Researcher (ISCIII) at Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu in Barcelona and is affiliated with the Oxford Mindfulness Research Foundation at the Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford. His research focuses on the effectiveness of mindfulness and compassion-based “third wave” psychotherapies, particularly in clinical and educational settings, contributing to numerous high-impact studies in the field of mental health promotion across diverse populations.