International Association for Near-Death Studies Announces Inspiring Keynote Lineup for 2026 Annual Conference

Popular Event Will Be Held August 27-30, 2026 at the Hyatt Regency in Bellevue, Washington

DURHAM, NC, UNITED STATES, April 30, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The International Association for Near-Death Studies (IANDS) today announced the four keynote speakers who will headline the Annual Conference, August 27-30, 2026, at the Hyatt Regency in Bellevue, Washington.

With the theme, “Expanded Lives: Exploring the Impact of Near-Death and Related Experiences,” conference keynote speakers include Dying to Be Me author Anita Moorjani; Institute of Noetic Sciences Director of Research Helané Wahbeh, ND, MCR; creator and host of Next Level Soul Alex Ferrari; and theoretical physicist, philosopher, and Professor of Media Studies Vera Spillner, Ph.D. Proof of Heaven author Eben Alexander, III, MD, will also speak during a special evening interview session, “A Conversation With Eben.”

Moorjani’s story about her battle with cancer, her coma, near-death experience, and subsequent recovery inspires audiences and readers. During her keynote, “From Awakening to Embodiment: The NDE is not the destination; It’s the doorway into who we truly are,” she will share what she learned from her NDE and how the experience transformed her. She will speak at the Opening General Session on Thursday, August 27 at 9 a.m. PT.

In addition to serving as IONS’s director of research, Dr. Wahbeh is a former president and current board member of the Parapsychological Association. She trained as a naturopathic physician and holds a Master of Clinical Research along with two post-doctoral research fellowships. During her keynote address, “When Consciousness Awakens: Channeling, Discernment, and the Long Arc of Transformation” she will examine channeling as a common, innate human capacity spanning a continuum from intuition, precognition, and telepathy to rarer forms such as mediumship and trance channeling. She will speak Friday, August 28 at 9 a.m. PT.

Ferrari’s global platform Next Level Soul is dedicated to exploring spirituality, consciousness, and the deeper meaning of life. Through profound conversations with near-death experiencers, spiritual teachers, scientists, and mystics, he helps illuminate the nature of the soul, the continuity of consciousness, and humanity's evolving spiritual awakening. During his keynote, “Truth in the Age of Spiritual Noise,” he will address the critical role of discernment as the foundation of a grounded and authentic spiritual journey. He will speak Saturday, August 29 at 9 a.m.PT.

For more than two decades, Dr. Spillner has engaged with questions of free will, consciousness, and responsibility at the limits of a purely materialistic worldview—particularly where NDE reports resonate with foundational questions in quantum theory and cosmology. During her keynote, “Oneness and Timelessness: What Fundamental Physics Can and Cannot Say About Near-Death Experiences,” she will explore how fundamental ideas from theoretical physics — such as quantum mechanics and quantum cosmology — seem to point to surprisingly similar features of our universe. Dr. Spillner’s address will be Sunday, August 30 at 9 a.m. PT.

Dr. Alexander was an academic neurosurgeon for over 25 years, including 15 years at the Brigham & Women’s Hospital, Children’s Hospital, and Harvard Medical School in Boston. In 2008, he experienced a transcendental Near-Death Experience (NDE) during a week-long coma from an inexplicable brain infection that completely transformed his worldview. A pioneering scientist and modern thought leader in the emerging science that acknowledges the primacy of consciousness in the universe, he is the author of the New York Times #1 bestseller Proof of Heaven, The Map of Heaven and Living in a Mindful Universe. Dr. Alexander will speak Thursday, August 27 at 7 p.m. PT.

The Annual Conference draws more than 900 people annually to learn about new research into near-death experiences, to hear stories from people who have had near-death experiences and to explore other related experiences such as terminal lucidity, after-death communication, and shared death experiences. The conference will also feature a Healing Center offering a wide variety of treatments and services, as well as an on-site bookstore. On-line Annual Conference registration opens in late May.

As a Durham, North Carolina-based educational nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization, IANDS focuses its resources on providing the highest quality information available about NDE-related subjects. IANDS’s purpose is to promote responsible, multi-disciplinary exploration of near-death and similar experiences, their effects on people’s lives, and their implications for beliefs about life, death, and human purpose. It is the only membership group of its kind with local groups all over the world.

Janet Riley
International Association for Near-Death Studies
+1 703-801-2238
email us here
Visit us on social media:
LinkedIn
Instagram
Facebook

Legal Disclaimer:

EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.