Fwd: NCCAM MAKES THE FIRST TWO AWARDS TO CREATE CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE FOR RESEARCH ON COMPLEMENTARY AND ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE

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" NIH OLIB (NIH/OD) " <olib wrote:

Wed, 29 Oct 2003 11:21:19 -0500

" NIH OLIB (NIH/OD) "

NCCAM MAKES THE FIRST TWO AWARDS TO CREATE CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE

FOR RESEARCH ON COMPLEMENTARY AND ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE

NIHPRESS

 

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

 

NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH

 

NIH News

 

National Center for Complementary

and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM)

http://nccam.nih.gov

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Wednesday, October 29, 2003

 

CONTACT:

NCCAM Press Office

301-496-7790

 

 

NCCAM MAKES THE FIRST TWO AWARDS TO CREATE CENTERS OF

EXCELLENCE FOR RESEARCH ON COMPLEMENTARY AND ALTERNATIVE

MEDICINE

 

BETHESDA, MARYLAND -- The National Center for Complementary

and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) has made the first two

awards in a new program to establish Centers of Excellence

for Research on complementary and alternative medicine

(CAM). The purpose of these new centers is to bring the

highest level of scientific rigor to research on CAM. While

millions of Americans are using CAM, few of these practices

have been tested for safety and effectiveness. These

centers will help address this critical public health need.

 

NCCAM, a component of the National Institutes of Health

(NIH), established the Centers of Excellence to support

established researchers in applying cutting-edge

technologies to explore the underlying mechanisms and

potential benefits of CAM practices, which are often used

to address critical public health conditions such as

cardiovascular disease and chronic pain.

 

" The establishment of these first Centers of Excellence is

testimony to the continuing maturation of research on CAM.

Highly accomplished investigators at major research

institutions are dedicating themselves to exploring CAM.

The field needs this enhanced level of experience and rigor

to transform the promise of CAM into proven treatments, "

said Stephen E. Straus, M.D., NCCAM Director.

 

The first two 5-year grants in this program, funded using

the NIH Program Project (P01) mechanism, were awarded to:

 

-- MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL, HARVARD UNIVERSITY,

BOSTON, MA PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: BRUCE R. ROSEN, M.D.,

PH.D.

Through the use of neuroimaging techniques such as

functional MRI (fMRI) as well as physiological and gene

microarray studies, this Center will study how acupuncture

affects human brain activity. The research projects in this

Center will seek to understand the neurobiology of

acupuncture. The total award is $5.9 million.

 

-- OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY, CORVALLIS, OR

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: BALZ FREI, PH.D.

This Center will study the mechanisms of antioxidants, such

as alpha lipoic acid, and explore their potential roles and

implications for the prevention and treatment of

amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, cardiovascular disease, and

aging in general. The total award is $5.8 million.

 

" These awards will provide exciting new opportunities for

experienced scientists to investigate fundamental questions

related to CAM, " said Margaret A. Chesney, Ph.D., NCCAM

Deputy Director. " The Centers of Excellence will help us

better understand the mechanisms of action of several CAM

modalities, a step that is critical to further research

and, ultimately, to integration into prevention and

treatment. "

 

The Centers of Excellence initiative is one of three new

NCCAM research center programs. They were implemented

following the review of the NCCAM centers program by an

expert panel in 2002. The panel reviewed the original CAM

centers that were established shortly after creation of

NCCAM in 1999. Based on the lessons learned from these

first centers, and in response to the evolving

opportunities and challenges in CAM research, the expert

panel recommended a more diverse platform of approaches to

support research centers and a sharpened focus on their

pursuit of original science. In response to these

recommendations, NCCAM designed the following three new

programs to build its next generation of research centers:

 

-- Centers of Excellence for Research on CAM (CERC) for

established research organizations;

 

-- Developmental Centers for Research on CAM (DCRC)

specifically for CAM institutions; and

 

-- Planning Grants for International Centers for Research

on CAM (PICRC) to stimulate U.S.-international research

partnerships.

 

Announcements of awards for the latter two new programs

will be made separately.

 

The National Center for Complementary and Alternative

Medicine (NCCAM) 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. For additional information, call NCCAM's

Clearinghouse toll free at 1-888-644-6226 or visit the

NCCAM Web site at .

 

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