The NCMIC Foundation has named Paul G. Shekelle, MD, PhD, as the 2022 winner of the Jerome F. McAndrews, DC, Memorial Research Fund Pioneer Award. Shekelle was presented the award at the Association of Chiropractic Colleges Educational and Research Agenda Conference (ACC-RAC), held July 24-27, at the Sheraton San Diego Hotel & Marina in San Diego, Calif.
The Jerome F. McAndrews, DC, Memorial Research Fund was created by the NCMIC Foundation to honor McAndrews’ longtime support of the scientific and practical advancement of the study of chiropractic. It provides an award to a worthy research recipient who has demonstrated exceptional ability to:
- Advance research and the exchange of scientific information
- Promote high ethical standards in research and/or practice
- Contribute to practical applications to chiropractic practice
- Interact professionally with other individuals and groups involved in relevant research and application
Shekelle is a physician policy researcher at the RAND Corporation and has served as co-director of the Southern California Evidence-based Practice Center (EPC) from 1997-2018. He is a staff physician at the West Los Angeles Veterans Affairs Medical Center and a professor of medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Medicine. He is widely recognized in the field of guidelines, quality measurement, and evidence-based medicine. He is a past chair of the Clinical Guidelines Committee of the American College of Physicians (ACP), and he earned his MD from Duke University and his PhD from UCLA.
In the early to mid 1990s, Shekelle served as an expert on a Rand multi-disciplinary panel evaluating The Appropriateness of Spinal Manipulation for Low Back Pain with Reed Phillips, Ian Coulter, Al Adamas and Eric Hurwitz. The study was funded by the FCER through a grant from NCMIC and the ACA, under the guidance of Louis Sportelli, DC.
Shekelle participated in early meetings which ultimately led to chiropractic’s inclusion in the Veteran’s Administration. He has been — and remains — pivotal in chiropractic gaining acceptance within the hallowed walls of the VA.
Wayne Wolfson, DC, president of NCMIC, said Shekelle was a natural choice for the McAndrews Award due to his analysis and exploration of complementary and integrative health care approaches to illness prevention and treatment within the health care system.
“Today’s health care environment is a challenging one, making it imperative that we continue to make researching the effectiveness, safety and cost efficiency of chiropractic and alternative health care methods a top priority if we’re to gain an advantage,” Wolfson said. “Dr. Shekelle’s research is reaching a broad audience, one that requires sound evidence that chiropractic is worthy of integration into a patient’s overall health care plan. Dr. Shekelle is most deserving of the McAndrews Award for his dedication to the future of the profession, and we’re pleased to welcome him to an elite group of past McAndrews Award winners.”
About NCMIC
NCMIC was formed in 1946 by a group of doctors of chiropractic with the express purpose of offering malpractice insurance to DCs when no one else would. Delivering on its promise, “We Take Care of Our Own, ®[1]” NCMIC has grown to become the largest provider of chiropractic malpractice insurance in the nation and has expanded its offerings to include business and personal insurance, equipment loans, credit card processing, business credit cards, and premium financing. With more than 75 years of experience and an “A” (Excellent) rating from industry analyst A.M. Best[2], NCMIC is a company that DCs can rely on today and in the years to come. For more information, please visit ncmic.com.
About the NCMIC Foundation
As part of NCMIC’s long stance of supporting complementary and alternative approaches of healthcare in clinical practice, research and academia, NCMIC founded the NCMIC Foundation, Inc., a 501(c)(3) organization. Since its founding in 2003, the NCMIC Foundation has collaborated with organizations, institutions and doctors worldwide to fund chiropractic research that is comprehensive, as well as far-reaching. Visit ncmicfoundation.org for more information.
[1] “We Take Care of Our Own” is a registered service mark of NCMIC Group, Inc., and NCMIC Risk Retention Group, Inc.
[2] Industry Analyst A.M. Best ratings range from A++ to S. See www.ambest.com.
