Joris Gielen studied history, religious studies and theology at University of Leuven (Catholic University of Leuven) in Belgium. He obtained his MA in History in 2001, MA in Religious Studies in 2002, and MA in Theology in 2003. In that year, he left for India to study Indian Philosophy and Religion at Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, with a postgraduate scholarship of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR). He obtained this MA in 2005. After his return to Belgium, he began working on a doctoral dissertation on palliative care physicians' and nurses' ethical attitudes and religious beliefs at the end of life in Flanders (Belgium) and New Delhi (India). He defended this dissertation in 2010. From October 2010 until August 2014 he worked at the University of Leuven as a postdoctoral scholar with a postdoctoral fellowship of the Research Foundation - Flanders (FWO). In August 2014, he became assistant professor at the Center for Healthcare Ethics, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh (USA). He was promoted to Associate Professor in 2017 and became Director of the Center in 2018. In his reserach, he focuses on how religion and spirituality inform experiences and ethical attitudes in health care.