Dana Lawrence, DC, Appointed to NIH Alternative Medicine Council

Dana Lawrence, DC, the director of the dept. of publications and editoral review, and professor in the department of chiropractic practice at National College of Chiropractic, has been invited by Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala to be a member of the National Institute's of Health (NIH) Alternative Medicine Program Advisory Council.

Dr. Lawrence, the respected editor of the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, received this letter on July 16, 1997:

THE SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES WASHINGTON, D.C. 20201 Dana J. Lawrence, DC, FICC Professor Department of Chiropractic Practice National College of Chiropractic Lombard, IL 60148 Dear Dr. Lawrence: I am delighted to invite you to serve on the Alternative Medicine Program Advisory Council, National Institutes of Health, for a term beginning March 1, 1998 and ending February 28, 2001, subject to the prescribed appointment procedures. Enclosed is a copy of the Charter which describes the structure and functions of the Council. Please indicate your acceptance or declination on the enclosed Acknowledgement of Invitation form. Upon learning of your acceptance, I shall ask the Director of the National Institutes of Health to supply you with further information relating to your appointment. I hope you will find it possible to accept this invitation and give us the benefit of your valued counsel. Sincerely, Donna E. Shalala

Dr. Lawrence's appointment will provide chiropractic with a voice on the council for at least the next three years.

The Advisory Council, true to its name, will advise Secretary Shalala and the NIH in evaluating various alternative forms of health care, including acupuncture, Oriental medicine, homeopathy, and physical manipulation therapies.

The council, according to its charter, will provide specific advice on:

1. identification of emerging issues in, and promising areas of, alternative medical treatment modalities;


2. support of research training;


3. establishment and operation of an information clearinghouse to exchange information with the public about alternative medicine; and


4. preparation of the biennial report on the activities carried out or to be carried out by the office.

The Advisory Council will have 18 members appointed by Secretary Shalala, plus Dr. Wayne Jonas, the director of the Office of Alternative Medicine. The members are chosen from various fields of expertise: diet/nutrition; mind-body control; traditional and ethnomedicine treatments; structural manipulation and energetic therapies; bioelectromagnetic applications, and pharmacological and biological treatments; and/or in research methodology.

The council will be meeting approximately three times a year. They will be able to suggest conferences and other activities that will enhance the NIH's alternative medicine program.

Dr. Lawrence was originally selected as the chiropractic member of the NIH's Ad Hoc Advisory Panel to the Office of Alternative Medicine. He believes that this appointment will greatly benefit the profession:

"This will allow the chiropractic profession to have representation on an NIH council that will be involved in funding research in complementary health care. It now appears to be standard practice for federal agencies to include chiropractic on any panel involved in alternative health care."