She studied Buddhism in Dharamsala, India, for fifteen years and received a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Hawaii, with research on death and identity in China and Tibet. She was president of Sakyadhita until 2009 and director of Jamyang Foundation, an initiative to provide educational opportunities for women in developing countries. Her research interests include death and dying, Buddhism and bioethics, Buddhist feminist eth- ics, peace studies, and Western adaptations of Buddhism. Her publications include Sisters in Solitude: Two Traditions of Buddhist Monastic Ethics for Women; Buddhist Women and Social Justice; Innovative Buddhist Women: Swimming Against the Stream; and Into the Jaws of Yama, Lord of Death: Buddhism, Bioethics, and Death.