Elucidating the placebo effects of acupuncture: hot flashes as a clinical model

简介(申请人提供)：毛俊博士，家庭医学助理教授，注册针灸医生，正在申请以患者为导向的研究职业发展奖(K23)，成为一名专注于补充和替代医学(CAM)的独立翻译研究员。这位候选人寻求对针灸治疗癌症症状的效果和机制进行多学科研究。在以前的针灸试验中观察到的大量安慰剂效应是研究针灸和解释实验结果的主要限制。因此，候选人提出了一个全面的研究和培训计划，以乳腺癌幸存者的潮热为临床模型，研究针灸的安慰剂效应。K23将为候选人提供高级研究设计、神经成像和行为科学方面的额外培训，以加强他在流行病学方面的初步研究培训。它还将通过进行随机对照试验(RCT)提供有指导的研究经验，以确定乳腺癌幸存者对安慰剂针灸和安慰剂药片治疗潮热的反应程度。此外，还建议在针灸试验参与者中进行一项关于脑功能成像的可行性研究，以探索将5-羟色胺转运结合作为一种潜在的生物标志物来可视化针灸对潮热的影响。为了支持候选人的职业生涯和研究发展，已经召集了一批多学科导师，其中包括约翰·法勒博士(针灸研究方法论)、玛乔丽·鲍曼博士(领导力发展和女性健康)、安德鲁·纽伯格博士(神经成像)、凯琳·勒曼博士(行为科学)、琳达·雅各布斯博士(癌症存活学)、黛博拉·布鲁纳博士(症状评估)、谢莎伦博士(生物统计学)和杰伊·阿姆斯特丹博士(生物精神病学)。提出的研究将为进一步研究针灸治疗潮热的作用和机制提供重要的方法学步骤。由于潮热是乳腺癌幸存者的常见症状，而且现有的常规疗法非常有限，这项研究及其后续调查有可能使数百万有乳腺癌病史的女性受益。此外，这款K23提供的有指导的研究经验和受保护的时间将使毛博士发展成为一名领先的翻译科学家，能够沟通神经生物学和针灸对癌症症状管理的临床反应。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Dr. Jun Mao, an Assistant Professor of Family Medicine and certified acupuncturist, is applying for a Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award (K23) to become an independent translational researcher focusing on complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). The candidate seeks to conduct multidisciplinary research on the effects and mechanisms of acupuncture for symptom management in cancer. The substantial placebo effect observed in previous acupuncture trials presents a major limitation for studying acupuncture and interpreting experimental results. Therefore, the candidate proposes a comprehensive research and training program to investigate the placebo effect of acupuncture using hot flashes among breast cancer survivors as a clinical model. This K23 will provide the candidate with additional training in advanced research design, neuroimaging, and behavioral science to augment his initial research training in epidemiology. It will also provide mentored research experience through the conduct of a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to determine the magnitude of response to placebo acupuncture vs. placebo pill for hot flashes among breast cancer survivors. Furthermore, a feasibility study on functional brain imaging has been proposed among a subset of acupuncture trial participants to explore the use of serotonin transport binding as a potential biomarker to visualize acupuncture's effects for hot flashes. A group of multidisciplinary mentors has been assembled to support the candidate's career and research development, including Drs. John Farrar (acupuncture research methodology), Marjorie Bowman (leadership development and women's health), Andrew Newberg (neuroimaging), Caryn Lerman (behavioral science), Linda Jacobs (cancer survivorship), Deborah Bruner (symptom assessment), Sharon Xie (biostatistics) and Jay Amsterdam (biological psychiatry). The proposed research will provide an important methodological step leading to further investigation of the effects and mechanisms of acupuncture for hot flashes. Because hot flashes are a common symptom experienced by breast cancer survivors, and because existing conventional therapies are highly limited, this research and its follow-up investigation have the potential to benefit millions of women with a history of breast cancer. Furthermore, the mentored research experience and protected time provided by this K23 will allow Dr. Mao to develop into a leading translational scientist who can bridge neurobiology and clinical response of acupuncture for symptom management in cancer.