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Left to right: John Graham, M.D. President/CEO; Kenneth Pargament, Ph.D. Distinguished Scholar; Jerri Doctor, Manager of Operations; Meagan Alley, Project Manager; Mary Helen Morosko, Director of Programs; Lex Gillan, Director of the Center for Professional Renewal; Ray Thomas, Business Manager.
 President and C.E.O. of the Institute Dr. John K. Graham is both a physician and a priest. He received his M.D. Degree from Tulane Medical School in New Orleans and is board-certified in two medical specialties - otolaryngology and plastic & reconstructive surgery.
John was in the private practice of medicine in Shreveport, LA for twenty years and was founder of the Plastic Surgery Center there. He received national media exposure in 1977 when he used his microsurgery training to successfully replant the totally amputated arm of a 4 year old boy. The story was told in an article in Guideposts magazine.
In 1990, John left the practice of medicine and responded to God's call to the priesthood. He attended Fuller Seminary in Pasadena, CA and received his Master of Divinity degree from the Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest in Austin. In 2001 he received a Doctor of Ministry degree from Seabury-Western Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois. For twelve years (1998-2010) John served as Sr. Associate Rector at St. Martin's Episcopal Church in Houston.
At St. Martin's, John established several ministries: Men's Covenant Group; a Prayer Ministry Team; a Christian Meditation Group; a Spirituality-in-Art class; and the Order of St. Luke the Physician -- a lay ministry for healing prayer. John served as chaplain for Daughters of the King, Cursillo, the Men of St. Martin's, and the Single Adult class. For ten years he led retreats to Laity Lodge in Kerrville, TX and for three years taught Men's Life, a 22-week class to strengthen men in their marriage, family, and at work.
In the diocese of Texas, John was a founding member of the Board of Directors of St. Luke's Episcopal Health Charities, a ministry to the medically under-served in the region. He also was a member of the Board of Directors of El Buen Samaritano, a ministry to the medically under-served Hispanic community in Austin, TX. John served as Spiritual Director for Cursillo in the Diocese of Texas and as Alternate Deputy to the 2003 General Convention of the Episcopal Church in Minneapolis, MN.
John retired from active ministry on November 26, 2009 and serves as a part-time Assistant Priest for Spiritual Formation at St. Martin's, where he teaches his weekly Men's Life class. He is chaplain to Spirituality-in-Art and leads annual group tours to Italy and France. In 2009, John also served as chaplain on St. Martin's mission trip to Amistad Orphanage in Cochabamba, Bolivia.
Since retiring, Dr. Graham has served as a Counselor at Open Door Mission and at the Inter-Face Samaritan Counseling Center, in Houston. He is engaged in a two-year Fellowship in Psychotherapy at the Houston-Galveston Psychoanalytic Institute.
On March 17, 2010, John was elected President and C.E.O. of the Institute for Spirituality and Health at the Texas Medical Center. His passion is to see the integration of spirituality and medicine, which he believes alone can bring optimum health to people. In this area of his interest, John has given talks to churches in the region, to three Good Samaritan Regional Hospitals in Oregon, and on a panel at the 2001 Texas Medical Association Annual Convention in Houston.
Dr. Graham is the author of two books, Mold Me and Shape Me, and most recently, Graham Crackers and Milk: Food for the Heart and Soul. He and his wife, Pat, have five grown children and eighteen grandchildren.
Contact Information
Phone: 713-797-0600, x108
Email: jgraham@ish-tmc.org
Mary Helen is the Program Director of the Institute for Spirituality & Health and is a member of its adjunct faculty. She holds a licensure in marriage & family therapy as well as certifications in hypnotherapy, family therapy and anger management. She is Board Certified as a Professional Counselor and Board Certified in Integrative Medicine with Diplomate Status.
Mary Helen earned a Master of Arts Degree in Clinical Psychology/Behavioral Science from The University of Houston at Clear Lake and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of St. Thomas. She has practiced clinical psychotherapy for over 32 years. She sits on the Executive Board of Directors of the American Psychotherapy Association, on the Nursing Advisory Council with the University of St. Thomas, and on the Executive Board of Integrative Medicine. She was formerly Director of Integrated Medicine and Director of Psychiatric Services with one of Houston’s largest healthcare systems.
Her clinical areas of expertise as a Holistic Therapist are Clinical Psychology, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Stress Management, Psychosomatic Medicine, Pain Management, Anxiety & Depressive Disorders, Loss & Grief and Integrative Medicine. Mary Helen has worked in both clinical and academic settings of healthcare administration, business & industry as well as her own private practice. She has an active background in community mental health and was instrumental in bringing the first Employee Assistance Programs to southeastern Ohio. Mary Helen received an award from the Ohio Senate for her outstanding work in the field of Mental Health Services. She is a noted lecturer, educator and consultant with a talent for working with others from a strong professional background employing knowledge, creativity, compassion and reality mixed with a healthy sense of humor.
Contact Information
Phone: 713-797-0600, x111
Email: mhm@ish-tmc.org
Lex Gilla n has been a practitioner of yoga and meditation for nearly 40 years. He has studied with world-class teachers including Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, Ram Dass, Stephen Levine, Father Thomas Keating, Andy Gold and James Ezelle, M.D. since the 1960s.
Lex has been a full-time instructor since 1974 when he founded The Yoga Institute in Houston, Texas, one of the oldest yoga studio businesses in the country. Since its inception, he has taught more than 25,000 yoga classes, 100 ten-day retreats, and 300 meditation workshops.
He now teaches, full-time, the Yoga Teacher Training and National Certification Course (YogaALLIANCE approved to 500 hours), is a founder and Trustee of Rose Mountain Retreat Center outside Las Vegas, New Mexico, and is on the Faculty and is the Director of Development at The Institute for Spirituality and Health in the Texas Medical Center in Houston. He is also a partner and is on the Board of Directors of Brazos Bookstore in Houston. Lex is degreed in Business Administration from Stephen F. Austin University (Texas) and spent five years as a commercial banker in Houston in the '60s.
Contact Information
Phone: 713-797-0600, x115
Email: lexgillan@swbell.net
 Jerri Doctor has spent her professional career working in medical and religious non-profit organizations. She is Manager of Operations at the Institute for Religion and Health. Jerri organizes conferences, retreats, and board meetings and handles all decision making operations at the Institute. She joined the staff in July 2003.
Before coming to the Institute, Jerri was the Administrative Assistant to the senior clergy at Congregation Beth Israel, one of the nation's largest Reform synagogues. In her role at Beth Israel, Jerri helped organize the Scholar-in-Residence program for the congregation and provided a wide range of support services for its clergy. Jerri has also worked at Baylor College of Medicine in the Texas Medical Center and at the Jewish Federation of Greater Houston.
Jerri attended the University of Oklahoma where she studied business education, and has taken special courses at Houston Community College and Medical Terminology classes at Baylor College of Medicine. She is a board member of the Sisterhood and a member of the Community Concerns Committee at Congregation Beth Israel. Jerri has three boys and two granddaughters.
Contact Information
Phone: 713-797-0600, x109
Email: jdoctor@ish-tmc.org
 Meagan Alley joined the ISH in September of 2010 as project manager. While she manages the content of the ISH website and assists with annual conferences, her primary responsibility is the management of the Spirituality and Practice of Houston Physicians study, an academic research project aimed at measuring the spiritual beliefs of Harris County physicians.
After graduating in sociology from Rice University in 2008, Meagan worked in the Rice Department of Sociology as research project manager. Under Dr. Elaine Howard Ecklund she managed three separate research projects, which included editing and marketing efforts for Ecklund’s book Science Vs. Religion: What Scientists Really Think, data analysis for a study on religion and immigration, and data collection for the National Science Foundation-funded "Influences on Science Careers" study.
Contact Information
Phone: 713-797-0600, x116
Email: malley@ish-tmc.org
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