The AWARE (AWAreness during Resuscitation) study was announced at the UN Symposium Beyond the Mind-Body Problem: New Paradigms in the Science of Consciousness, on September 11, 2008. The symposium at the United Nations featured some of the leading NDE researchers and other experts in the field of mind-body science.

The AWARE study is the first NDE research study launched by the Human Consciousness Project, which is led by Dr. Sam Parnia, an expert in consciousness during clinical death.