Melvin L. Morse

Melvin L. Morse (born December 11 1953) is an American physician who specializes in pediatrics. He has authored several books and articles on paranormal science and near-death experiences in children, including the 1987 New York Times bestseller Closer to the Light, written jointly with Paul Perry, and with a foreword written by Raymond Moody. Morse has authored many journal articles, and has given media interviews on the subject of near-death experiences.

Morse is head of the Institute for the Scientific Study of Consciousness (ISSC), an institution founded by Charles Tart, PhD in 1979 dedicated to the scientific exploration of human consciousness and its different manifestations.

In 2023, Morse became one of the winners of the BICS Challenge, a ground-breaking research program created by the Bigelow Institute for Consciousness Studies to support research into both the survival of human consciousness after physical death and the nature of the afterlife. Together with the ISSC team of associates, which includes Dr. Jose Miguel Gaona, MD, Ph.D., Isabelle Chauffeton Saavedra, Lance Williams Beem, MA, Raymond Moody MD, and AJ Parr, Morse conducted the groundbreaking research with the participation of nineteen hand-picked, certified mediums who were asked to connect with the afterlife over a nine-month period and later prepared the conclusions and final report: “An Investigation into the Current Status of the Spiritual Progress of Humanity as Ascertained by Interviewing Nineteen Mediums,”