Miriam E. Cameron, PhD, MS, MA, RN

Before earning her PhD, Dr. Cameron developed clinical expertise by working as a staff nurse, head nurse, and nursing instructor in pediatrics. In addition, she served as a head nurse in eldercare and a nursing supervisor of all hospital clinical areas.

In 1997, Dr. Cameron first visited Tibet, where she studied and experienced Tibetan Healing. After completing postdoctoral study, she joined the Bakken Center Faculty. She brought Tibetan Healing to the University by founding and leading the Tibetan Healing Initiative (THI) at the Bakken Center. Since then, she has studied, taught, and written about Tibetan Healing in the U.S., Tibet, India, China, Nepal, and South Korea.

Dr. Cameron has studied and practiced Yoga for nearly 50 years. Starting in 2004, she founded and led the Bakken Center’s Yoga Program. She served as Graduate Faculty and Lead Faculty of the Yoga and Tibetan Medicine Focus Area at the Bakken Center.

On Jan. 1, 2023, Dr. Cameron retired from the Graduate Faculty to serve as a Bakken Center Senior Fellow. She and her husband, Michael Ormond, are donating their life savings to establish a Tibetan Healing Professorship at the Bakken Center.

Dr. Cameron served as PI, Co-Investigator, or Consultant for 10 funded, published studies about topics involving Nursing, Ethics, and Tibetan Healing in the U.S. Tibet, India, South Korea, and China.

The four Ethics studies were funded by NINR; Bethel College, St. Paul; and Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea. The findings resulted in the published “Caring and Justice Ethical Decision-Making Model” and the “Value, Be, Do Ethical Decision-Making Model,” now used widely.  

Dr. Cameron and Tenzin Namdul, PhD, TMD, created the ”Constitutional Self-Assessment Tool” and the “Lifestyle Guidelines Tool” based on Tibetan Healing. Their research team, funded by a Bakken Center Mini-Grant, tested, refined, and published the tools, now being used in the U.S., Tibet, India, and other countries around the world.

Dr. Cameron was an invited participate on 10 National Institutes of Health Review Panels.  

Dr. Cameron has published extensively about Nursing, Ethics, Tibetan Healing, and Yoga. She is the first author or one of the authors of over 70 invited or peer-reviewed journal articles, 4 monograms, 15 poster presentations, 10 journal columns, nine book chapters, and three internet publications. She wrote these four peer-reviewed books:

• Cameron, M.E., & Namdul, T. (2020). Tibetan Medicine and You: A Path to Wellbeing, Better Health, and Joy. Blessing by H.H. the 14^th Dalai Lama. Rowman & Littlefield. 
  • Cameron, M. (2003).  Una Odisea Tibetan. (Prologo de Su Santidad el Dalai Lama).  Barcelona, Spain: Viena Helios. (Spanish edition of Karma & Happiness).
• Cameron, M.E. (2002). Karma and Happiness: A Tibetan Odyssey in Ethics, Spirituality, and Healing. Foreword by H.H. the 14^th Dalai Lama. Rowman & Littlefield.
• Cameron, M.E. (1993). Living with AIDS: Experiencing Ethical Problems. Foreword, E.D. Pellegrino, MD. Sage Publishing (PhD dissertation research).
• Cameron, M. (1980, 1982).  Hello, I'm God and I'm Here to Help You. Warner Books (Post-Baccalaureate Study).

• Lead Faculty, “Nursing of Children,” St. Barnabas School of Nursing.
• Nursing Instructor, Minneapolis Community College School of Nursing.
• Graduate Faculty, Bakken Center for Spirituality and Healing, University of Minnesota. 
  • Created in 2003 and taught for 20 years, CSPH 5315 – “Tibetan Medicine: Ethics, Spirituality and Healing.”  
  • Created in 2004 and taught for 10 years, CSPH 5317 – “Yoga: Ethics, Spirituality, & Healing.”
  • Created in 2005 and taught for 10 years, CSPH 5318 – “Tibetan Medicine, Ayurveda, and Yoga in India.”
  • Created and taught in 2014-2015, CSPH 5319 – “Yoga and Ayurveda in India.”
  • Created and taught about 100 graduate independent studies, 2005-2015. 
• Invited speaker for hundreds of in-person and online events about related topics in the U.S., Tibet, India, South Korea, and Nepal, 1986-Present.
• Dissertation and thesis advisor for students.

Dr. Cameron collaborates with health organizations around the world, including Men-Tsee-Khang in Dharamsala, India; Tibetan Medical College in Xining, China (Amdo, Tibet); The Meditation Center in Minneapolis; College of Nursing at Seoul National University; and Tibetan Healing clinics in the U.S.

Dr. Cameron has received many awards and recognitions. Since 1980, she has given  hundreds of interviews to newspapers, journals, radio shows, and television. She most cherishes H.H. the Dalai Lama’s meetings in Dharamsala, India, with her and her students and this honor from her Alma Mater, the University of Minnesota School of Nursing: 100 Distinguished Alumni Award, Centennial Celebration, Nov. 4-5, 2009.