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

描述（由申请人提供）：Jun Mao博士，家庭医学助理教授和认证针灸师，正在申请一个指导的以患者为导向的研究职业发展奖（K23），成为一个独立的翻译研究人员，专注于补充和替代医学（CAM）。该候选人旨在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，以研究针灸的安慰剂效应，使用乳腺癌幸存者的潮热作为临床模型。该K23将为候选人提供高级研究设计，神经影像学和行为科学方面的额外培训，以增强其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）提供指导性研究经验，以确定安慰剂针灸与安慰剂药丸对乳腺癌幸存者潮热的反应程度。此外，一项关于功能性脑成像的可行性研究已经在一部分针灸试验参与者中提出，以探索使用5-羟色胺转运结合作为潜在的生物标志物来可视化针灸对潮热的影响。一组多学科的导师已经聚集在一起，以支持候选人的职业生涯和研究发展，包括博士约翰法拉（针灸研究方法），马乔里鲍曼（领导力发展和妇女健康），安德鲁·纽伯格（神经影像学），Caryn Lerman（行为科学），琳达雅各布斯（癌症存活率），Deborah Bruner（症状评估），Sharon Xie（生物统计学）和Jay Amsterdam（生物精神病学）。这项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经历的常见症状，并且由于现有的常规疗法非常有限，因此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，K23提供的指导研究经验和受保护的时间将使Mao博士发展成为领先的转化科学家，可以将神经生物学和针灸临床反应用于癌症症状管理。

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.