About

The life of Dr. Clayton Hess, MD, MPH, is a synthesis between science, faith, and service as Founding Elder of the Church of Faith and Reason. A man of diverse talents, Dr. Hess was ordained to the priesthood and set apart as an Elder of the LDS church before leading a reformation movement in Sacramento. He is a board-certified radiation oncologist but also a small business owner, entrepreneur, and a hobby theoretical physicist. He is president and medical director of CureRays Radiation Medicine a medical group practice headquartered in Grass Valley, California. His a proud and well-published scientist, author, and NIH- and industry-sponsored researcher. 

 

His life's work is a testament to his belief in the harmonious integration of empirical knowledge and spiritual conviction. Raised in the Mormon faith, his journey has been one of devout practice and leadership. This began as a missionary leader under Presidents Wes Greene and Ulisses Soares in Northern Portugal. He rose quickly in mission leadership from new arrival to immediate trainer to district leader, straight to assistant to the president, traveling and supervising over one hundred missionaries. At Utah's Missionary Training Center after he returned home, he was hired for his teaching prowess and passion, became a beloved teacher, and rose in rank to district leader among all Portuguese-language instructors. He married within 4 months of returning from Europe, served in ecclesiastical positions including Sunday School and Elders Quorum presidencies, and Bishopric Clerk. In 2012, while meeting alongside his fellow congregational leaders, he encountered troubling realities about LDS church history and claims, which dramatically set his life course into conflict. After ten years of cancer research, scientific publications, and work as a physician-scientist with secular views and familial upheaval, the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physics became a decisive turning point. This award for experimentation confirming the existence of entangled particles and non-locality catalyzed a rebirth of his faith, but with a new understanding about the quantum testing ground of life. His journey led him to a new understand of faith combined with reason, which he invites you to hear, ponder, and consider for yourself and your family. His commitment to family is profound, being a sacrificing father of six, and a devoted husband who now leads his family grounded on the principles of the Church of Faith and Reason.

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Dr. Hess's academic and professional path is as impressive as it is varied. He completed his education at Brigham Young University, where he graduated Cum Laude. He obtained his medical degree at Penn State University where he was funded for clinical trial research assessing and tracking treatment-related psychological distress and received the Spieth Award for Excellence in Oncology. This was followed by an internship at the University of Texas at Austin, and residency training at the University of California, Davis where he published broadly and became Chief Resident. He completed a visiting residency rotation at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital pursuing a passion in the fight against childhood cancer. His pursuit of excellence led him to a specialized 2-year fellowship in childhood malignancies and proton therapy at Massachusetts General Hospital, where he also engaged in neuro-oncology research studying circulating tumor cells and tumor DNA in childhood brain tumor patients under a prestigious NIH K-12 grant. His academic rigor was further honed with a Master of Public Health awarded from Harvard University, focusing on clinical effectiveness and statistics. Dr. Hess then worked in Exeter, New Hampshire as an attending physician in the now Mass General Brigham system before holding faculty appointment at Emory University, where he treated head and neck cancers and explored public health innovations and the immunological effects of radiation. His innovative spirit was evident during the global health crisis when he led a clinical trial on low-dose radiation for severe COVID-19 symptoms. Now based in Northern California, he co-founded CureRays Radiation Medicine and continues to lead in radiation oncology, blending his roles as a clinician, physician, researcher, and community leader, all underpinned by his mission to advance patient care through science and compassion.

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Dr. Hess' commitment to truth and knowledge catalyzed high conflict within his Mormon community and his multi-generational family and heritage of founding pioneers and apostles. He is proud of the efforts of his Mormon Battalion, trailblazing, and way-finding forefathers and 8 generations of mainly immigrant English-American and German-American families who built life intentionally wherever and whenever they could. He sees that others too lead lives of excellence through striving within their own heritages and legacies of faith and reason.​

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As Presiding Elder of the Church of Faith and Reason, Dr. Hess has one resounding message to spread: ours stories of finding faith through doubt find footings in physics, the scientific underpinnings of our pixelated reality. And once you know you have an audience, everything you do in life takes on a whole new significance. The story of his life is worth a read. Full of tragedy and triumph, war and peace, agony and bliss -- it is a life well lived and well written, but just one of millions of Faireatales now walking and breathing human stories the world over.

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He is dedicated to building a future and community where Faith and Reason build together. 

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After all, life itself is a Faireatale -- to be well lived and well written.

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Come find your wings and soar.

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Dr. Hess is married to Sarah Hess, a past church elder herself, corporate professional and daughter of hard-working immigrant Korean-Americans, who built a beautiful life through faith, reason, and talent. They are parents of a blended family of 6 children and reside in the Bay Area, Marin County, where the Church of Faith and Reason was founded and holds weekly services in San Rafael, California

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