Research Team

Philip Jenkins was educated at Cambridge University, where he received his Ph. D. in History. From 1980 through 2011, he taught at Penn State University, where he holds the rank of Emeritus Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of Humanities. In 2012, he became a Distinguished Professor of History at Baylor University.

Dr. Jeff Levin, an epidemiologist by training, holds a distinguished chair at Baylor University, where he is University Professor of Epidemiology and Population Health, Professor of Medical Humanities, and Director of the Program on Religion and Population Health at the Institute for Studies of Religion. He also serves as Adjunct Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Duke University School of Medicine, and as an Affiliated Member of the Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy at Baylor College of Medicine.

Darin H. Davis (B.A., University of Texas; M.A., Baylor University; Ph.D., Saint Louis University) is clinical professor of moral philosophy in the Honors Program.  He is also senior fellow in Baylor’s Institute for Studies of Religion.

During his career, he has taught courses on moral philosophy, philosophy of human nature, happiness and the moral life, business ethics, contemporary ethical theory, and the philosophy and theology of friendship. His scholarly interests focus on the history of moral philosophy, virtue ethics, and faith and higher education. 

Dr. Matt Bradshaw is Research Professor of Sociology at the Institute for Studies of Religion (ISR). Before joining ISR, he held faculty appointments at Baylor University and Duke University. Dr. Bradshaw’s research examines health and well-being from two different perspectives. 

Sung Joon Jang is Research Professor of Criminology and co-director of the Program on Prosocial Behavior within Baylor’s Institute for Studies of Religion (ISR).

Robert D. Woodberry is director of the Project on Religion and Economic Change and a senior research professor at Baylor University. Most of his research uses comparative historical and statistical methods to analyze the long-term social impact of missions and religious change on societies around the world.

Dr. George Yancey is a professor at the Institute for Studies of Religion, and in the Sociology Department, at Baylor University. He has published several research articles on the topics of institutional racial diversity, racial identity, academic bias, progressive Christians and anti-Christian hostility.

Tyler J. VanderWeele, Ph.D., is the John L. Loeb and Frances Lehman Loeb Professor of Epidemiology in the Departments of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and Director of the Human Flourishing Program and Co-Director of the Initiative on Health, Spirituality, and Religion at Harvard University. He holds degrees from the University of Oxford, University of Pennsylvania, and Harvard University in mathematics, philosophy, theology, finance, and biostatistics. 

Katelyn Long, DrPH, MSc, is a Research Associate for the Program. She was John and Daria Barry postdoctoral fellow at the Human Flourishing Program at Harvard University and a postdoctoral fellow at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Her current work focuses on determinants of well-being, group dynamics of religion on human flourishing, and the development of tradition-specific spiritual well-being measures. She completed her doctoral studies at Boston University School of Public Health where her dissertation focused on the role of faith-based and charitable health providers in health systems. Her other public health work has been in the areas of chronic disease prevention, adolescent health, mental health, and positive deviance in vulnerable communities. She earned her Master of Science in Public Health from the University of Utah and her undergraduate degree in religion with a minor in music from Vanguard University.

Tim Lomas is a Psychology Research Scientist in the Department of Epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and part of the Human Flourishing Program at Harvard University. Dr Lomas’ main research focus is exploring cross-cultural perspectives on wellbeing, especially concepts and practices deemed ‘non-Western.’ Current projects include: assisting with the Global Flourishing Study, a longitudinal study of 240,000 people in 22 countries; helping lead the Global Wellbeing Initiative, a collaboration with Gallup to develop and analyse new items for their World Poll that reflect non-Western views of wellbeing; creating a lexicography and conceptual map of ‘untranslatable’ words relating to wellbeing; and a project funded by the Templeton Foundation to look into Muslim perspectives on wellbeing.

Brendan W. Case, Th.D., serves as the program's Associate Director for Research, working both to develop integrative research strategies that draw together explorations of human flourishing from across the social sciences and humanities, and to disseminate the Program's work through external partnerships and public events. Dr. Case is the author of The Accountable Animal: Justice, Justification, and Judgment (T&T Clark, 2021), and co-author (with William Glass) of Least of the Apostles: Paul and His Legacies in Earliest Christianity (forthcoming from Pickwick Press). His work has also appeared in journals such as Modern Theology, Studies in Christian Ethics, Franciscan Studies, and Pro Ecclesia, and he is also a regular contributor to The Church Life Journal, among other popular outlets. 

Jennifer S. Wortham, Dr.PH, is a religion, spirituality, and forgiveness research associate for the Program.  She earned her doctorate in public health at the UCLA, Fielding School of Public Health, and she teaches graduate-level courses in health services quality  management and patient safety methods.  She has extensive experience in health system transformation, and she has served as a strategy and population health consultant for leading healthcare organizations in the public and private sectors for over 30 years. 

Renae Wilkinson, Ph.D., is a sociologist and research associate whose work examines how social resources and adverse life conditions shape health and well-being across the life course. She completed her doctoral training at Baylor University. Her current research spans three core areas: (1) analyzing how social factors and life adversities influence long-term health outcomes using large-scale cohort studies, (2) leading projects within the Global Flourishing Study that explore the role of social relationships and adversity in promoting human flourishing across cultural contexts, and (3) investigating the relationship between homelessness and health, with a focus on identifying protective resources that buffer the effects of housing insecurity. 

Christos serves as an Associate Research Professor at the W. P. Carey School of Business and Research Affiliate at the Global Security Initiative (both in Arizona State University), an Associate Faculty at the Complexity Science Hub in Vienna, a Digital Fellow at the Digital Economy Lab in Stanford University, a Non-resident Fellow at the Institute for Religious Studies at Baylor University, Visiting Faculty at University of Nicosia, Senior Researcher at The Gallup Organization, a policy adviser, and an entrepreneur. He is the CEO/founder of Dainamic, a financial technology service provider working to democratize the use and application of data science and AI techniques for small and mid sized organizations, COO/co-founder of Living Opera, a classical music multimedia production company with an associated 501(c)3 Foundation, and CEO/Founder of CM Culture Management, a boutique artist management and cultural placemaking service provider.

Thomas Breedlove received his Ph. D. in Religion at Baylor University. Primary research topics include issues of human nature, embodiment, and divine image in the fourth-century theology of Gregory of Nyssa and contemporary French phenomenology. Published writing on these topics and theology and the arts can be found in Religion and Literature, Literature and Theology, Political Theology, Anglican Theological Review, Heythrop Journal, and a forthcoming volume on phenomenology and art with Bloomsbury Press.

Chris Felton, Ph.D., is a postdoctoral fellow at Baylor University's Institute for Studies of Religion and is affiliated with the Human Flourishing Program at Harvard University. His work develops new methods for causal inference, focusing specifically on applications related to self-harm and mental health. He completed his Ph.D. in sociology at Princeton University, and his work has appeared in Sociological Methods & Research and Sociological Science.felton