NESA Acupuncture Research Collaborative

作为补充和替代医学（DCRC）研究的发展中心，新英格兰针灸学院（NESA）-哈佛针灸研究合作将汇集来自东方医学（OM）和传统医学界的领导者，以批判性地评估针灸的疗效和安全性，并开发针灸研究所需的合理方法和可行的研究设计。我们的DCRC将加强和建立在NESA，哈佛医学院（HMS）Osher研究所和其他两个HMS附属机构，达纳法伯癌症研究所和波士顿儿童医院之间已经在进行的合作。DCRC将支持三项开发/探索性研究和两项基础设施核心（管理和临床试验），这些研究将通过三个主题协同整合。第一个主题围绕着OM研究的多样化，以评估临床实践中采用的多种方法，这将通过评估日本和中国的针灸来解决。第二个主题强调开发和实施新的研究方法，以满足针灸和OM临床试验中提出的独特挑战。我们的三项研究之一将开发，验证和测试用于在临床试验背景下得出OM诊断的仪器的可靠性。其他与针灸治疗个体化、针灸试验中的适当对照和结果发展相关的方法学问题 反映OM治疗理念的措施也将得到解决。第三个主题讨论了针灸作为辅助疗法在治疗妇女健康状况方面的好处。具体来说，我们将研究针灸在两种情况下的应用，目前评估其疗效和安全性的证据是有限的-化疗诱导的中性粒细胞减少症的卵巢癌妇女，和慢性盆腔疼痛的青少年和年轻妇女子宫内膜异位症。我们的DCRC不可或缺的是一些学术和行政指导计划，通过HMS教师，员工和培训计划将协助NESA发展其临床研究基础设施和自主维持生产研究计划的能力，该计划结合了最高标准的科学和传统OM实践的完整性。我们的DCRC的最终目标将是NESA在未来提交基于我们发展研究的R 01和R21提案中发挥主导作用。

As a Developmental Center for Research in Complementary and Alternative Medicine (DCRC), the New England School of Acupuncture (NESA)-Harvard Acupuncture Research Collaborative will bring together leaders from the oriental medicine (OM) and conventional medicine communities to critically evaluate the efficacy and safety of acupuncture, and develop sound methodologies and feasible study designs required for acupuncture research. Our DCRC will strengthen and build upon already ongoing collaborations between NESA, the Harvard Medical School's (HMS) Osher Institute, and two other HMS-affiliated institutions, the Dana Farber Cancer Institute and Children's Hospital Boston. The DCRC will support three developmental/exploratory studies and two infrastructure cores (Administrative and Clinical Trials) that will be synergistically integrated by three themes. The first theme centers around diversifying OM research to evaluate the plurality of approaches employed in clinical practice which will be addressed through the evaluation of both Japanese- and Chinese-style acupuncture. The second theme emphasizes the development and implementation of novel research methods that are required to meet the unique challenges posed in clinical trials of acupuncture and OM. One of our three studies will develop, validate, and test the reliability of an instrument used to derive OM diagnoses in the context of clinical trials. Other methodological issues related to individualization of acupuncture treatments, appropriate controls in acupuncture trials, and the development of outcome measures that reflect the treatment philosophy of OM will also be addressed. The third theme addresses the benefits of acupuncture as an adjunct therapy in the treatment of women's health conditions. Specifically, we will study the application of acupuncture to two conditions for which the current evidence evaluating its efficacy and safety is limited-- chemotherapy-induced neutropenia in women with ovarian cancer, and chronic pelvic pain in adolescent and young women with endometriosis. Integral to our DCRC are a number of academic and administrative mentoring programs through which HMS faculty, staff, and training programs will assist NESA in developing its clinical research infrastructure and capacity to autonomously sustain a productive research program that combines the highest standards of science and the integrity of traditional OM practices. The ultimate goal of our DCRC will be for NESA to play the lead role in the future submission of R01 and R21 proposals that build upon our developmental studies.