#  Integrating Spiritual and Palliative Care 

 





As a board-certified chaplain and research fellow at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute's Department of Supportive Oncology, **Sarah Byrne-Martelli, MDiv '02**, explores and embodies the integration of spiritual care within palliative care.



 

June 24, 2025

 

 

     ![Sarah Byrne-Martelli headshot](/sites/g/files/omnuum5526/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-06/Martelli%20crop.jpg?itok=J-mzDqSr) 

Sarah Byrne-Martelli, MDiv '02



 



 

*Sarah Byrne-Martelli, MDiv ‘02, Board Certified Chaplain and Research Fellow, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Department of Supportive Oncology (Boston, MA)*

*View* [*more stories*](/community-life/career-services/alumni-career-snapshots "Alumni Career Snapshots") *on HDS alumni and their career paths.*

## Describe the work you do today:

I have served since 2002 as a hospice and palliative care chaplain. My work is motivated by a vision for compassionate, integrated, and research informed spiritual care. I am driven by my professional experiences of chaplaincy across various hospice and palliative care settings, along with a clear vision of how spiritual care contributes to patient-centered, culturally humble, justice-oriented care. After 20+ years in clinical work, including active leadership in the Association of Professional Chaplains and the Orthodox Christian Association of Medicine, Psychology, and Religion, I have transitioned into full-time research, teaching, and writing. I am the first chaplain to be accepted as a research fellow in the Department of Supportive Oncology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. After I received the Cambia Sojourns Scholar Award, it propelled me into the national Palliative Care space and hence I have been able to focus more on chaplaincy research. My current research explores the integration of spiritual care in palliative care. For my denomination, I mentor Orthodox Christian chaplains nationally, and I serve as an Assistant Professor of Spiritual Care at St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary. In this role, I instruct and mentor Doctoral students (primarily Orthodox priests). I published a book in 2022: *Memory Eternal: Living with Grief as Orthodox Christians*. The bereavement curriculum I designed has been implemented in parishes nationally.

## How has your HDS degree experience influenced your career journey?

I remember the day I learned about hospice chaplaincy, at a presentation in the HDS chapel during my MDiv. What a blessing! My coursework at HDS equipped me with a deep and broad knowledge of religions and cultures of the world; this, in turn, gave me a skill set for caring for patients and families of different religious practices and backgrounds. HDS' academic rigor and commitment to justice and respect was a strong foundation for my career.



 

 

 



 

 See also:- [ Alumni News and Profiles ](/discover-stories-about/alumni-news-and-profiles)