Partap Khalsa, DC, PhD: "This (the grant and his faculty appointment) gives chiropractic a stronger foothold in the 'hard' sciences of neurophysiology and soft tissue biomechanics, and another platform from which we can show that we are 'real,'"
Partap Khalsa, DC, PhD, a chiropractic scientist, has appeared several times on the front page of DC for his significant accomplishment in furthering chiropractic research.
Now he is privileged and honored to be the first chiropractic scientist to ever receive a biomedical engineering research grant from the Whitaker Foundation, a prestigious and highly competitive award for scientists to perform cutting-edge research in this area.
The grant, effective Sept. 1, 1997, is for $205,000 over three years to study "neural population mechanisms that encode noxious and non-noxious mechanical stimuli."
"This research," explained Dr. Khalsa, "will examine how populations of nociceptive neurons in skin encode noxious compressive and tensile loads. It will enhance understanding of the fundamental mechanisms of how pain develops following tissue threatening mechanical stimuli."
The road to this grant began when Dr. Khalsa received a postdoctoral appointment at Yale. After a year it was upgraded to a research track faculty appointment in the department of anesthesiology at Yale University.
This past summer he received an offer for a tenure track faculty appointment as an assistant professor of biomedical engineering and orthopaedics at the State University of New York (SUNY) School of Medicine at Stony Brook, which he accepted beginning September 1, 1997. SUNY was recently ranked as second among "Research I Public Universities" by Hugh Davis Graham and Nancy Diamond in their recently released report, The Rise of American Research Universities.
Both the new faculty position and the grant are important for chiropractic. "It gives chiropractic a stronger foothold in the 'hard' sciences of neurophysiology and soft tissue biomechanics, and another platform from which we can show that we are 'real,'" said Dr. Khalsa.
When sports chiropractors first appeared at the Olympic Games in the 1980s, it was alongside individual athletes who had experienced the benefits of chiropractic care in their training and recovery processes at home. Fast forward to Paris 2024, where chiropractic care was available in the polyclinic for all athletes, and the attitude has now evolved to recognize that “every athlete deserves access to sports chiropractic."
It is estimated that 61% of patients with CTS avoid taking surgical options due to postoperative complications and costly surgical procedures. Chiropractic care offers a comprehensive and effective treatment for carpal tunnel syndrome, addressing the condition from multiple angles. Recent studies also have unveiled a game-changing adjunct to chiropractic treatments for CTS: nerve flossing.
Some doctors thrive in a personality-based clinic and have a loyal following no matter what services or equipment they offer, but for most chiropractic offices who are trying to grow and expand, new equipment purchases help us stay relevant and continue to service our client base in the best, most up-to-date manner possible. So, regarding equipment purchasing: should you lease, get a bank loan, or pay cash?
