Dr. Chaitanya Prajna is a “Samani” or a Jain nun who was specially initiated (on April 18, 1986) to spread the faith and to seek salvation through the rigorous practice of Jain religion such as by self-study, detachment, meditation, non-violence, and other strict practices not normally followed by householders. She is presently jointly serving as an Associate Professor at Jain Vishwabharti and a Visiting Professor in the Department of Religious Studies at Florida International University, Miami, FL since August 2010, as well as Editor of the Newsletter of Jain Education and Research Foundation, Miami, USA since 2010.

For more than 20 years, Naina Mehta has been practicing as a Board-Certified Neurodevelopmental Pediatrician. Her areas of expertise include Autism, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and other behavioral disorders.

She has researched non-medical therapies for ADHD with studies incorporating Preksha Dhyana with Yoga and play therapy in schools in Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat, India, and in Orlando, FL. Her clinic staff previously trained in the Certificate Course at the Sivananda Ashram in the Bahamas conducted by Jain Nuns and Ashram yoga teachers. She now plans to expand these services further to also include children with Autism, and conduct research on optimizing protocols.

Dr. Devendra I Mehta’s research includes work on cognitive behavioral therapy and the option of meditation as therapy. He has worked on the positive role of meditation in attention and cognition of college students and is currently looking at transcriptomics and epigenetics that may underlie the benefits seen. He has also reported studies on efficacy of meditation in childhood disorders such as ADHD. These studies and experience led to the integrative medicine clinic that he runs for functional disorders. He is also the site PI for the Mood Network, a PCORI grant through Harvard University, to assess role of meditation in chronic disorders.

As a practitioner of Preksha Meditation, he has studied the benefits of meditation in school children with ADHD. Showing significant success, this intervention has led to adoption in other schools including in Turkey, Greece, and recently in Galapagos islands.

Ramesh Parmar is a successful entrepreneur with a history of establishing, operating, and selling mobile software companies. He is a graduate of the Sivananda Yoga Teacher Training Course and a regular practitioner of Jain Preksha meditation.