October 2003

Palmer College wins NCCAM grant for collaborative research

The Palmer Center for Chiropractic Research in Davenport has received a grant totaling $2.3 million from the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. Palmer is the first of two grants that are being awarded to forge new partnerships between complementary and alternative medicine institutions and major research universities in an innovative effort to advance research on widely used CAM practices.

The first two Developmental Centers for Research on Complementary and Alternative Medicine (DCRC) will help build a collaborative CAM research community that will provide scientific rigor in this field.

“These new centers provide a vehicle for scientists in CAM institutions to partner with established investigators in conventional research institutions to conduct rigorous exploratory and developmental research projects on CAM,” said Margaret A. Chesney, PhdD, NCCAM deputy director.

The DCRC initiative aims to:

• Increase the level and quality of CAM research by assisting CAM institutions, researchers and practitioners in conducting high-quality research;

• Promote research expertise and infrastructure within the CAM community; and

• Support improved communication and partnerships between CAM and conventional medical research institutions so that established researchers will gain the clinical and cultural perspectives needed to undertake CAM research.

Palmer College’s center, under the direction of vice president of research, William Meeker, DC, MPH, will focus on the mechanisms of action and effects of chiropractic manipulation, especially for the common problem of low back pain.

“We’re very excited about these new awards,” said Meeker. “These grants are crucially important because they enhance the ability of the Palmer Center for Chiropractic Research to move to the next level of research productivity. Each of the projects deals with an avenue of research that will shed light on the underlying mechanisms and the clinical utility of chiropractic care. The multidisciplinary nature of the projects will lead to a synergy that will cause even more definitive studies that will improve health care and benefit many more patients.”

Scientists at Palmer will collaborate with investigators at the University of Iowa, Kansas State University, the State University of New York at Stony Brook and the National University of Health Sciences in Illinois. The total award comes to $2.3 million.

The second grant awarded by NCCAM goes to the New England School of Acupuncture in Watertown, Mass. This center will evaluate the efficacy and safety of acupuncture, develop methodologies and study designs required for acupuncture research. It will address the benefits of acupuncture in the treatment of women’s health problems.

The center will collaborate with clinicians and scientists at Osher Institute at Harvard Medical School and two other Harvard-affiliated institutions, the Dana Farber Cancer Institute and Children’s Hospital in Boston. The total award of this grant is approximately $2.0 million.

According to NCCAM, these two partnership grants are important because they lay the foundation for grant applications for a mature research program.

NCCAM is part of the National Institutes for Health (NIH). It is dedicated to exploring complementary and alternative healing practices in the context of rigorous science, training CAM researchers and disseminating authoritative information to the public and professionals.

Source: National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, www.nccam.nih.gov

Industry News from:
Chiropractic News from: