FEATURE

On May 19 and 21, 2025, The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) held Unraveling the Neurobiology of Empathy and Compassion: Implications for Treatments for Brain Disorders and Human Well-Being: A Workshop. This virtual event brought together leaders and experts across disciplines and sectors, as well as community members living with related mental health and other neurological conditions (LivedX), to explore the neurobiology of empathy and compassion, potential implications for treatments for brain disorders, and opportunities for the role that empathy and compassion can play in human well-being and a healthy society.

Dr. Gentry Patrick, Director of the Sanford Institute’s Center for Empathy and Social Justice in Human Health, served as co-chair of the workshop planning committee, with Dr. William Mobley, Founding Director of the Sanford Institute, also contributing as a committee member.

The webinar was well received with more than 1,200 audience members attending virtually and offering thought provoking questions and comments for the speakers and expressing both excitement and gratitude for this “first of a kind” workshop.

We look forward to future collaboration opportunities with NASEM related to the study and promotion of empathy and compassion. Stay tuned for updates!

PUBLICATIONS

A recent UC San Diego study led by Center for Empathy and Technology director Cinnamon Bloss, PhD, and researcher Wendy Liu, identified 14 operational companies selling school-based online surveillance services to U.S. schools. School-based online surveillance services systematically monitor students’ online activity, purportedly to prevent violence and student suicide.

The study, recently published in JMIR, found that most school-based online surveillance companies monitor student digital activity 24/7 and use artificial intelligence (AI) to conduct automated flagging of student activity.

Findings suggest that the technology is heavy handed, and that students who only have school-provided devices are more heavily surveilled. In addition, historically marginalized students may be at a higher risk of being flagged due to algorithmic bias. Learn more about why increased oversight of this industry may be warranted — read the study.

RESOURCES

In high-stakes environments (like health care), how much more effective could you and your team be with strong mediation skills? The answer: A lot more effective. Learn the fundamentals of mediation skills and learn strategies for resolving conflicts and managing difficult conversations in a free virtual workshop this fall. 

MEDIA

Center for Compassionate Communication leaders — Evonne Kaplan-Liss, MD, MPH, and Val Lantz-Gefroh, MFA — sat down with Be A Health Architect Podcast to discuss how slowing down, storytelling, and improv directly lead to pathways of building agency and communication in the journey through burnout.

EVENTS

This September, the Sanford Institute is going to Baltimore, MD, for the Gold Humanism Summit. Founding Institute Director Dr. William Mobley will join Dr. Sean Evans of UC San Diego School of Medicine and Dr. Rolando DeLeon of Nova Southeastern University for a special plenary session on centering empathy for self and others in medical education curricula.

EVENTS

Advances in brain imaging and the neurosciences allow previously unimaginable insights into the workings of the human mind, but not necessarily how to translate that knowledge into a benefit for patients or providers. This is the root of our work at the Sanford Institute for Empathy and Compassion.

We invite you to join us tomorrow, July 23, 2025, for an expert panel hosted by The Schwartz Center for Compassionate Healthcare CEO, Michael Gustafson, MD, MBA, to hear how we are leveraging the neurobiology of empathy and compassion to create initiatives that are game-changing for medical education and patient care at UC San Diego School of Medicine and beyond. 

Webinar Details:

📅 When: Wednesday (tomorrow!), July 23, from 12 - 1 p.m. PT
💻 Where: Via Zoom
➡️ How to Register: Click here to save your spot — for free!

NEWS

— Early bird registration is open for the 2026 Lead With Compassion Workshop, an arts- and humanities-based leadership training for health care professionals and medical educators to foster empathy and compassion. Save your spot now — this workshop will sell out.

— The Stuart Collection is hosting one-hour, pop-up concerts set against the iconic Sun God sculpture on UC San Diego's La Jolla campus, Thursdays at 6pm on July 17 and 31. This event is free to all!

— The Center for Compassionate Communication is recruiting outstanding UC San Diego clinicians for its acclaimed UC San Diego Health: Sanford Compassionate Communication Academy Fellowship - Fall Cohort. Application deadline: August 31, 2025.