Herbert Benson, M.D., is the founding President of the Mind/Body Medical Institute; the Mind/Body Medical Institute Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School; and Chief of the Division of Behavioral Medicine at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Dr. Benson is a pioneer in mind/body medicine, as well as in bringing spirituality and healing into medicine. Through his 35+ year career, he defined the relaxation response and continues to lead teaching and research into its efficacy in counteracting the harmful effects of stress. The recipient of numerous national and international awards, Dr. Benson lectures widely about mind/body medicine and the M/BMI's work. His expertise is frequently sought by national and international news media, and he appears in scores of newspapers, magazines, and television programs each year. Dr. Benson's research extends from the laboratory to the clinic and to Asian field expeditions. His work serves as a bridge between medicine and religion, East and West, mind and body, and belief and science.

A graduate of Wesleyan University and the Harvard Medical School, Dr. Benson is the author or co-author of more than 170 scientific publications and seven books:
The Relaxation Response, 1975
The Mind/Body Effect, 1979;
Beyond the Relaxation Response, 1984;
Your Maximum Mind, 1987;
The Wellness Book, 1992;
Timeless Healing: The Power and Biology of Belief, 1996, and
The Relaxation Response - Updated and Expanded (25th Anniversary Edition), 2000
More than four million copies of his books have been printed in many languages.