There are photos and then again… there are photos…

Psychiatrist Elisabeth Targ, a preeminent researcher in the field of mind/body medicine, died July 18, 2002 of a brain tumor at the age of 40. Dr. Targ was a practicing physician, Professor of Medicine at the University of California at San Francisco, and Director of The Complementary Medicine Research Institute at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco.

Dr. Targ was a kind, brilliant, and beautiful woman, devoted to helping reduce human suffering and exploring the frontiers of human knowledge. Described as an “out-of-the-box scientist before the phrase became popular,” she took on some of the most challenging conditions known to science and society. Her interests spanned an uncommon range of issues including schizophrenia, psychoneuroimmunology, learned helplessness in mental health, and the health benefits of meditation and contemplative prayer. According to her colleagues, Dr. Targ’s aim in conducting rigorous research was never to provide final or definite answers, but to create question generating hypotheses, bringing new horizons of science into view.

Having practiced medicine as a Professor of Clinical Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco early in her career, Dr. Targ’s studies drew her to probe the possible role of the mind-body-spirit connection involved in medical healing. She began her formal inquiry through a peer-reviewed study on the complementary use of alternative medicine in the treatment of women with late-stage breast cancer. Based upon the success of the study, she helped create a center sponsored by the Department of Defense at the University of California, San Francisco, which she helped direct.

No project captured her enthusiasm and commitment, however, more than her continuing study of the possible efficacy of prayer in healing. Through randomized double-blind clinical trials, she and her colleagues found strong evidence that HIV positive AIDS patients, who received prayers from distant healers of a variety of faiths, had significantly better medical outcomes than patients who did not receive supportive prayers. This groundbreaking study was published in the Western Journal of Medicine in 1999, and was discussed in diverse forums ranging from Time Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, The News Hour with Jim Lehrer, and a soon to be published article in Oprah Magazine. Her monthly column in Spirituality and Health Magazine, “Open Mind – Open Heart,” helped translate research findings into a popular medium.

In 1997, Dr. Targ designed a study and secured funding from the National Institutes of Health to explore distant healing and prayer as trainable skills that nurses and other health professionals might integrate into their healing work. Principally, the study examines the efficacy of prayer on patients with a rare form of brain cancer, glioblastoma. Shortly after receiving funding from the NIH, Dr. Targ herself was diagnosed with this same form of cancer.

Elisabeth received her M.D. and Russian language translator’s certificate from Stanford University, where she also received a master’s degree in Neuropharmacology, and bachelor’s degrees in biology and Slavic languages. She was born in New York City. Dr. Targ was the wife of futurist Mark Comings; daughter of the late computer educator, Joan Fischer Targ, and writer and laser pioneer Russell Targ; the niece of world chess champion Bobby Fischer; and the granddaughter of the late William Targ, editor-in-chief of G. P. Putnams and Sons publishers.

She is survived by her husband, Mark; father Russell; brother Alexander, a physician in Palo Alto; three nieces Sasha, Sonia, and Sylvia; and brother Nicholas, an attorney in Washington DC. The family suggests that remembrances be directed towards the support of her ongoing study of love and healing, through the Institute of Noetic Sciences in Petaluma, California where Elisabeth was a research fellow.

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I love the expression on her face!  Who is she?  Nobody knows.  The photograph was taken by F.Guerin.

Priceless expressions!


Smoking…but maybe not cigarettes!

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