John Astin, PhD, and Ben Kligler, MD, have recently accepted coeditorship positions at EXPLORE: The Journal of Science and Healing. They will join Larry Dossey, MD, executive editor, and Bonnie Horrigan, editorial director, as part of EXPLORE’s leadership team. Dr Astin will be responsible for manuscripts and journal direction in the areas of mind-body medicine, consciousness, and spirituality, and Dr Kligler will oversee manuscripts and journal direction in the areas of integrative medicine, CAM therapies, and environmental medicine. Mary Fenton, RN, DrPH, and Victor Sierpina, MD, will continue to serve as associate editors. Former editor-in-chief, David Riley, MD, resigned to pursue his research interests and other opportunities.
“I am very pleased and honored to be coming on board as coeditor-in-chief of the journal,” said Astin. “EXPLORE continues to hold a unique place among medical-scientific journals in terms of its willingness to tackle such challenging areas as the role of mind-body relationships in health, the nature of human consciousness and its potential influence upon human health and physiology, and the role of nontraditional therapies in medicine. Together with Ben, I look forward to continuing to support the journal in its mission to explore frontier/leading edge areas of science and medicine and its commitment to publish high quality research and theoretical work in these areas.”
“As an associate editor, I have had the privilege of watching as EXPLORE—under the leadership of David Riley, Bonnie Horrigan, and Larry Dossey—has grown from a forward-thinking idea to a highly regarded, Medline-indexed, academic journal,” said Kligler. “As David moves on to other pursuits, I feel honored to step forward, in partnership with John Astin, to continue to grow and expand this vision and the journal.”
About Dr Astin
John Astin received his PhD in Health Psychology from the University of California, Irvine, and completed postdoctoral training at the Stanford University School of Medicine. From 2000 to 2002, he served on the faculty at the Center for Integrative Medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Presently, he holds an appointment at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco, California, where he serves as the codirector of the Mind-Body Medicine Research Group.
Most recently, John’s work has focused on two areas: (1) exploring barriers to the integration of mind-body principles and practices in medicine and (2) examining the efficacy of meditation and acceptance-based methods to prevent relapse from substance dependence. He has published extensively in the fields of integrative and mind-body medicine, with papers appearing in such journals as JAMA, Annals of Internal Medicine, Academic Medicine, Archives of Internal Medicine, and Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine. He also serves on the editorial boards of Alternative Therapies in Health & Medicine and FACT: Focus on Alternative/Complementary Therapies.
Along with his scholarly pursuits, John is also an accomplished singer, songwriter, and recording artist, having produced six albums of original spiritual-contemplative music that are distributed worldwide. He is also the author of Too Intimate for Words, and This Is Always Enough, collections of poetry and prose reflections on the nature of nondual awareness.
About Dr Kligler
Benjamin Kligler, MD, is associate professor of family medicine at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and teaches in the Beth Israel Residency Program in urban family practice. He is currently the research director of the Beth Israel Center for Health and Healing, an integrative medicine practice, which opened in May 2000. In addition, Dr Kligler is codirector of the Beth Israel Fellowship Program in Integrative Medicine, which accepted its first fellows for training in January 2002. Dr Kligler is the coeditor of
Integrative Medicine: Principles for Practice, a textbook published by McGraw-Hill in 2004, and author of
Curriculum in Complementary Therapies: A Guide for the Medical Educator, which is currently distributed through the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine. He serves on the editorial board of
American Family Physician. Dr Kligler is certified in Ericksonian hypnotherapy and acupuncture, and incorporates these and the use of botanical medicines into his practice at the Center for Health and Healing.
Dr Kligler’s primary academic interest is in the development of curriculum for physicians-in-training in the area of complementary and alternative medicine. He is formerly cochair of the Education Working Group of the Consortium of Academic Health Centers for Integrative Medicine. He is former chair of the Alternative Medicine Interest Group in the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine, and is a founding member and organizer of the American Association of Medical Colleges Special Interest Group on Alternative Medicine. All of these groups are currently working to make teaching on alternative medicine a required part of medical education in the United States.
Dr Kligler first became interested in the medicinal uses of herbs as an undergraduate major in biology and botany. He has pursued a study of botanical medicines over the subsequent 15 years and has been involved with teaching conventional doctors about the uses of herbs for the past seven years. Prior to entering medical school, he trained in shiatsu massage and developed a small private practice in Boston. Dr Kligler is also certified in Ericksonian hypnotherapy by the New York Society for Ericksonian Hypnotherapy. He lectures widely to medical students, residents, and physicians in the New York area and elsewhere on the applications of complementary and alternative medicine in conventional medical practice.
AHMA Sets New Course
With an eye on having holistic medicine be a standard of care across the country, the American Holistic Medical Association (AHMA) has “revisioned” its mission and set a new course for its future. Collaboration with other medical and healthcare organizations, taking a stance nationally to promote holistic care, and opening its doors to nonphysician healthcare providers are the major hallmarks of AHMA’s new approach.
Spearheading these changes are incoming president Hal Blatman, MD, as well as Bill Benda, MD, and others on the AHMA board who are determined to modernize the organization and shift its focus. “Times have changed,” said Blatman. “Physicians interested in holistic care have different needs today than they did 30 years ago. The field of healthcare is also vastly different. What was once a sparse landscape for the holistic physician has become a forest of academic programs, legislative policies, research publications, and local clinics. The AHMA has a role in this new world and will respond accordingly.”
Instead of hosting a separate conference in 2008, and in keeping with its new partnership model, AHMA will instead be joining the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians (AANP) at its annual conference. “The foundational principles of the AANP and the AHMA have always been philosophically identical, and now our mission and goals are in alignment at well,” states Benda, who serves on the boards of both organizations. “The time has come for professional collaboration to move from the therapeutic into the political realm.”
Scheduled for August 13 to 18, 2008, at the Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix, the convention will offer events for all attendees, as well as events specific to each organization. The new collegial tone is demonstrated in the following examples:
•all keynotes, breakout sessions, preconference workshops and meals are open to all attendees
•both AHMA and AANP members are invited to submit abstracts for lectures and poster presentations
•the AHMA will hold its annual committee and membership meetings on-site
•fees for members of either organization will be the same
The AHMA will also hold its 30th anniversary celebration during the AANP Conference.
Other examples of new partnerships include a collaborative agreement with the American Academy of Pain Management (such that members from either organization have access to the combined wealth of educational offerings) and a shared membership program with the American Board of Holistic Medicine (ABHM) aimed at having half of the AHMA membership be board certified and half of physicians who pass the ABHM’s board exams be members of the AHMA.
On the national front, with the help of board member Henri Roca, MD, the AHMA has submitted a proposal to the City of New Orleans to introduce holistic care into the public health system and is working to create a consortium of like-minded organizations interested in improvements to medical malpractice insurance. The AHMA has also opened its doors to nonphysician members—if a healthcare provider is licensable in any state, he/she is eligible to join as an associate member and even serve on the board.
“The AHMA is now going to participate at a national level in facilitating the change that is needed in our healthcare system so that holistic, integrative medicine is the norm,” said Blatman.
For more information or to join the American Holistic Medical Association, visit www.holisticmedicine.org.
Sierpina and Perlman to Lead the Academic Consortium
Victor Sierpina, MD, and Adam Perlman, MD, MPH, FACP, were elected chair and vice chair, respectively, of the Consortium of Academic Health Centers for Integrative Medicine (CAHCIM) at the organization’s Sixth Annual Meeting, at Georgetown University in November 2007. Dr Sierpina is the W. D. and Laura Nell Nicholson Professor of Integrative Medicine and professor of Family Medicine at the University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas. Dr Perlman is the Hunterdon Endowed Professor of Complementary and Alternative Medicine and executive director and associate professor, Institute for Complementary and Alternative Medicine at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Newark, New Jersey.
The idea for the Consortium was conceived at a meeting in 1999 of eight medical institutions interested in further developing the field of integrative medicine. Today, its membership has grown to include 39 highly esteemed academic medical centers in the United States and Canada that are focused on helping to transform medicine and healthcare through rigorous scientific studies, new models of clinical care, and innovative educational programs that integrate biomedicine, the complexity of human beings, the intrinsic nature of healing, and the rich diversity of therapeutic systems.
“Our primary goals are to continue to build the Consortium membership and to support its working groups—education, clinical practice, and research. These essential teams are reaching out to education deans at regional meetings; petitioning the LCME to revise educational standards regarding IM; facilitating communication among specialty interest groups such as pediatrics and oncology; collecting databases and repositories of educational resources; and designing multisite trials and clinical studies,” said Sierpina. In addition, he noted that, “the Consortium is extremely grateful for the infrastructure support the Bravewell Collaborative has extended over the past five years and their promise for support in the future.”
“The Consortium provides a collective voice that will advance integrative medicine,” explained Perlman. “We are seeking affiliation with other organizations and partners in the allopathic and complementary/alternative medicine communities in order to create a new level of integration across the country, improved interdisciplinary collaboration, and combined efforts on policy change on healthcare access, insurance coverage, and educational and licensure standards.”
For more information, please contact the Consortium at http://www.IMTheConsortium.org, via e-mail at TheConsortium@umn.edu, or by telephone 612-624-9166.
About Dr Sierpina
Victor S. Sierpina, MD, is professor of family medicine with tenure at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) in Galveston, Texas. He is the W. D. and Laura Nell Nicholson Family Professor of Integrative Medicine. He graduated from the University of Illinois Abraham Lincoln School of Medicine as a James Scholar in Independent Study and completed family practice residency at MacNeal Memorial Hospital in suburban Chicago. His practice and his personal life have long included the study of Tai Chi, acupuncture, meditation, Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine, and nutritional, herbal and mind-body approaches to health and healing.
Dr Sierpina was principal investigator on a $1.6 million National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant to develop an evidence-based curriculum in alternative therapies, and the recipient of a $1.35 million NIH exploratory and development grant in mind-body medicine to create an expanded research infrastructure in mind-body medicine at UTMB. An associate editor for Explore: The Journal of Science and Healing, he is the author of a textbook, Integrative Health Care: Complementary and Alternative Therapies for the Whole Person, and the consulting editor on the newly released 1000 Cures for 200 Common Ailments, as well as numerous peer-reviewed scientific articles and other publications in the field of integrative medicine.
About Dr Perlman
Adam Perlman received his BA from Tufts University and his MD from Boston University School of Medicine. He completed residencies in internal medicine and preventive medicine as well as a general internal medicine research fellowship at Boston Medical Center. In addition, he earned a masters of public health with a concentration in biostatistics and epidemiology from the Boston University School of Public Health.
In 2002, Dr Perlman became executive director for the Institute for Complementary and Alternative Medicine at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ), where he is an associate professor of medicine. In 2004, he was named the UMDNJ Hunterdon Endowed Professor in Complementary and Alternative Medicine, and in 2007, Dr Perlman was appointed chairperson for the Department of Primary Care within the School of Health Related Professions.
Dr Perlman lectures widely and is a frequently featured media expert. His scholarly activities include numerous grants and publications. His research has been published in the Archives of Internal Medicine and featured in the New York Times.
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