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Sam Parnia is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. He received his medical degree from the Guys and St Thomas’ Hospitals (UMDS) of the University of London in 1995 and his PhD in cell biology from the University of Southampton in the UK in 2006. He is director of Resuscitation Research at the State University of New York in Stony Brook, USA and an honorary fellow at Southampton University Hospital, UK.

Education

Parnia graduated from Guys and St. Thomas' medical schools in London (1995), completed his medical residency at the Universities of Southampton, UK and Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York, USA and completed a Ph.D in cell and molecular biology at the University of Southampton in 2006.

Career

Dr Parnia has been actively involved in cardiac arrest resuscitation since the late 90s, when he was a member of the Southampton University Trust Hospitals resuscitation committee. One of his areas of concentration has been in the incorpration of cerebral oximetry during cardiac arrest care as a marker of the quality of oxygen delivery to the brain during resuscitation. His research also focuses on the study of the human mind and consciousness during the period after cardiac arrest. This research has included investigation of the psychological phenomena classified as near death experiences.

Near-death research

In 2003, Parnia and Peter Fenwick appeared in the BBC documentary "The Day I Died". Susan Blackmore criticized the documentary for biased and "dishonest reporting". Blackmore wrote "the interviews with NDErs were fascinating, but the science was not". In the documentary Parnia and Fenwick discussed their belief that research from near-death experiences indicates independence of the mind. According to Blackmore the documentary mislead viewers with beliefs that are rejected by the majority of scientists.

Parnia has said he is uncertain the brain produces the mind and has suggested that memory is not neuronal. He has has stated that research from NDE's may show "mind is still there after the brain is dead", however, the psychologist Chris French is skeptical about this claim writing "but they could just be the brain trying to make sense of what is a very unusual event." The neurologist Michael O'Brien has written even though Parnia believes the evidence from the NDE suggests a separation of mind and brain "most people would not find it necessary to postulate such a separation between mind and brain to explain the events." O'Brien has suggested that a physical explanation from further research into the mechanisms of the brain is likely to explain near-death experiences.

Parnia is the principle investigator of the AWARE study (AWAreness during REsuscitation), which was launched in 2008. This is a multidisciplinary multicenter international collaboration of scientists, physicians and nurses. This study is incorporates testing claims of awareness and near-death experiences (NDE) during cardiac arrest together with methods aimed at measuring the quality of oxygen delivery to the brain. Critics have expressed concern with the NDE research aspect of the study as it presents difficulty in the realm of informed consent. As of 2013, this work has led to the introduction of cerebral oximetry as a novel marker of the quality of oxygen delivery to the brain.

In his book Erasing Death and in a series of interviews Parnia has explained that although most people view death as an irreversible moment, however the understanding of death that has arisen due to advances in resuscitation science particularly in the 21st century is of a process that may be potentially reversible.

Selected bibliography

• What Happens When We Die (Hay House, 2006)
• Erasing Death: The Science That is Rewriting the Boundaries Between Life and Death (Harper Collins, 2013)
• The Lazarus Effect: The Science That is Rewriting the Boundaries Between Life and Death (Ebury Publishing, 2013)

References

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1. "Donnad | University of Southampton". Southampton.ac.uk. Retrieved 2013-12-16.
2. USA (2013-08-12). "parnia s, - PubMed - NCBI". Ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. Retrieved 2013-12-16.
3. Susan Blackmore. (2004). "Near-Death Experiences on TV". Sceptic Magazine 17. pp. 8-10. Retrieved 2014-06-03.
4. Tim Adams. (2013). "Sam Parnia – the man who could bring you back from the dead". The Guardian. Retrieved 2014-06-03.
5. Jonathan Petre. (2000). "Soul-searching doctors find life after death". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2014-06-03.
6. Michael O'Brien. (2003). "The Day I Died". British Medical Journal. 326(7383): 288. Retrieved 2014-06-03.
7. "University of Southampton". Southampton.ac.uk. 2008-09-10. Retrieved 2013-12-16.
8. Sebastian Dieguez. (2009). "NDE Experiment: Ethical Concerns". Skeptical Inquirer. Retrieved 2014-06-03.
9. USA (2013-08-12). "A pilot study examining the role of regional c... [Resuscitation. 2013] - PubMed - NCBI". Ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. Retrieved 2013-12-16.
10. Parnia, Sam (2013-02-20). "'Erasing Death' Explores The Science Of Resuscitation". NPR. Retrieved 2013-12-16.
11. Back from the Dead: Resuscitation Expert Says End Is Reversible Der Spiegel, 29 July 2013.

• Living people
• Alumni of the University of Southampton
• Near-death experiences