Ayurvedic Center for Collaborative Research

描述(由申请人提供)：补充和替代医学(CAM)在美国的使用正在增加，数百万患有慢性病的美国人正在转向CAM治疗，这些治疗尚未通过西方科学标准的安全性和有效性验证。许多替代医疗系统，如阿育吠陀，在美国变得流行起来，在其他国家已经起源或是传统的。阿育吠陀是一种古老的、多方面的、来自印度的整体医疗体系。基于这样一个前提，即了解这一传统医疗体系的最佳方式是在其本土环境中进行研究，本研究的广泛目标是发展美国研究人员与印度科学家和从业者之间的合作关系，以在印度建立一个研究阿育吠陀的国际CAM研究中心。我们已确定印度哥印拜陀的阿育吠陀信托基金为拟议的合作和发展中心。具体目标是：1)发展和巩固阿育吠陀信托基金与美国研究人员之间的长期科学合作；(2)评估阿育吠陀信托基金开展符合NIH现行科学和管理标准的研究项目的现有资源和当前需求，并熟悉该信托基金及其运作；(3)完善试点研究的研究设计，为与阿育吠陀信托基金合作进行更彻底的调查奠定基础，并确定后续国际补充和替代医学研究中心(ICRC)或其他应用中提出的研究议程；(4)启动一项计划，以满足阿育吠陀信托基金的需要，以促进开展成功的伦理研究，包括培训人员；(5)发展基础设施，以促进合作研究，包括为以下方面开发核心设施：1.通信和监测临床试验的信息技术基础设施；2.阿育吠陀药物的质量保证和质量控制实验室；(6)启动一项试点研究，为红十字委员会随后提出的申请或通过其他赠款机制提出的更大的临床试验奠定基础。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) usage in the U.S. is on the increase and millions of Americans suffering from chronic conditions are turning to CAM treatments, which have not been validated by Western scientific standards for safety and efficacy. Many alternative medical systems like Ayurveda, which are becoming popular in the U.S. have originated or are traditional in other countries. Ayurveda is an ancient, multifaceted, holistic medical system from India. Based on the premise that the optimal way to understand this traditional medical system is by conducting studies in its native setting, the broad goal of this research is to develop collaborative relationships among researchers from the U.S. and scientists and practitioners in India to develop an international center for CAM research in India to study Ayurveda. We have identified The Ayurvedic Trust in Coimbatore, India as the proposed center for collaboration and development. The specific aims are to: 1) Develop and consolidate long-term scientific collaborations between the Ayurvedic Trust and U.S. researchers; (2) Assess the available resources and the current needs for the Ayurvedic Trust to conduct research projects that meet current NIH scientific and regulatory standards, and gain familiarity with the Trust and its operations; (3) Refine the research design for a pilot study to form the basis of more thorough investigations in collaboration with the Ayurvedic Trust, and define the research agenda to be proposed in the subsequent International Centers for Research on Complementary and Alternative Medicine (ICRC) or other applications; (4) Initiate a plan to address the needs of the Ayurvedic Trust to facilitate the conduct of successful and ethical research, including training of personnel; (5) Develop the infrastructure to facilitate collaborative research, including developing core facilities for: 1. Information Technology Infrastructure for communications and monitoring clinical trials, and 2. Quality Assurance and Quality Control laboratory for the Ayurvedic medications; (6) Initiate a pilot study to form the basis of larger clinical trials to be proposed in the subsequent ICRC application or through other grant mechanisms.