Dr. Harold G. Koenig likes to explore brave new connections, to go where no scientist has gone before: the link between spirituality and health.

The Duke University professor of psychiatry and behavioral science and associate professor of medicine has founded Duke's Center for Spirituality, Theology and Health, perhaps best known for groundbreaking studies on the effects of prayer and churchgoing on health.

As he prepared to head to Hawai'i for a series of lectures to health professionals and one public talk, he answered these five questions:

You've pioneered several groundbreaking studies about the connection between faith and health. What's your own faith background?

I was raised Catholic and now am an interdenominational Protestant.

Do you pray, and what form does it take?

I pray and I use a combination of petitionary prayer and adoration-type prayer.

Which study, and its results, surprised you?

Immune functioning. We examined the relationship between immune functioning, which we measured using a protein in the blood called interleukin 6, which is an indicator of immune functioning, and we looked at people's religious attendance. What we found was, people who attended religious services more often had immune systems that were actually stronger, healthier, looking like the immune systems of younger people. That was a most exciting finding. It fit with our understanding of how religious involvement might impact health.

We believe religious involvement helps people cope better with stress. Reducing stress alters the effects stress has on immune functioning, which are negative. When people are stressed out, their immune system doesn't work right, it makes them susceptible to illness, disease, etc.

What's the reaction within the medical community?

This was about 10 years ago, there was very little medical reaction, though every major news network (covered it and we) had calls from all over world. The public interest is enormous. Medical interest always has been slow and relatively quiet. ... I think it has made an impact, because over the last 10 years the number of medical schools that include a course for religion, spirituality and health has increased — from about three in 1992, up to over 80. (There's more) training physicians to be sensitive to these issues. However, many physicians didn't get this training in medical schools. Only about 10 percent do that. About 90 percent of physicians are not really engaging patients in that way.

You've been questioned about the idea that if religious people are healthier, then those who are sick are not praying enough or aren't stronger in their faith. How do you answer them?

Medical illness and disease, like psychiatric illness and disease, has many causes. ... Everything else being equal, the religious person tends to be healthier, emotionally and physically. The fact is, however, everything else is not equal. People have varying degrees of genetic susceptibility to illness; they've inherited that. It has nothing to do with their religious beliefs or practices. Also, they have had experiences during life, accidents, things that have happened to them that they couldn't have avoided, things have happened to them, things not under their control. ... You're raised in various environments and what was available. And people grow older. As you grow older, the mortality statistic is 100 percent.

Many other things affect health than one's religious beliefs. If they are all equalized, the one who is more religious tends to have better health. But you can't conclude because someone is sick or depressed, that they haven't prayed hard enough or don't have enough faith. It's not true; in fact, many of the sickest people, those who have suffered the most, have the most insightful, deepest faith. It's been tested in fire of adversity.