DC Joins NCCAM Advisory Council
The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) recently named six new members to its National Advisory Council. Among them is Gert Brontfort, DC, PhD, associate vice president of research at Northwestern Health Sciences University.
A graduate of Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College, Dr. Brontfort is also senior clinical researcher at Northwestern's Wolfe-Harris Center for Clinical Studies.
Council members serve four-year terms and meet three times annually. Composed of physicians, scientists, licensed CAM practitioners and members of the public, the council's purpose is to offer "advice and recommendations on prioritization, conduct and support of CAM research, including research training and communication of evidence-based health information."
In addition to Dr. Brontfort, other new members of the NCCAM advisory council include Timothy Birdsall, ND, FABNO; Boyd Bowden II, DO; Lupo Carlton, MD, Dipl. Ac.; Shin Lin, PhD; and Herman Taylor Jr., MD, MPH, FACC, FAHA.
Dr. Will Evans Named to AMA Physician Consortium
Will Evans, DC, PhD, CHES, has been named to the American Medical Association's Physician Consortium for Performance Improvement, the work group charged with developing national quality measures for clinicians from evidence-based guidelines for select conditions. A graduate of Logan College of Chiropractic, Dr. Evans is currently director of health promotion degree programs at Cleveland Chiropractic College - Kansas City.
"I am honored to join the Preventive Care and Screening work group," said Dr. Evans. "As we look to the future, there are unprecedented opportunities to advance our understanding and implementation of preventive care measure, whether that is in the chiropractic practice or the office of a medical physician."
More than 100 national medical specialty and state medical societies are affiliated with the AMA Consortium, including the American Chiropractic Association (ACA). As a consortium member, the ACA has worked to achieve chiropractic representation on work groups for select conditions.
"Dr. Evans is a recognized expert in the areas of health promotion and health education, making him an excellent representative of the chiropractic profession," said Dr. Glenn Manceaux, ACA president. "As both a researcher and a clinician, he brings practical experience and a well-rounded scientific background to the position."
New Executive VP at Life West
Dr. Reza Badiee, chief financial officer at Life West Chiropractic College for the past 17 years, is now executive vice president, a newly created position announced recently by Dr. Gerard Clum, Life West president. Dr. Badiee will continue to manage Life West's financial affairs while assuming the added responsibility of overseeing many of the non-academic administrative functions at the college.
Dr. Badiee is active with and formerly chaired the Business Officers' Council of the Association of Chiropractic Colleges, is a member of the Council on Chiropractic Education's (CCE) Site Team Visit Academy, and serves on the CCE Task Force on Accreditation Standards and Improvement.
"We are pleased to bring Mr. Badiee's considerable talents to more of the college community through this appointment," said Dr. Clum. "[His] familiarity with the college at large, chiropractic education in general and his management insights cause him to be ideally suited for this new administrative assignment."
NHSU Fundraising Campaign Running Smoothly
According to Brady Forseth, director of development at Northwestern Health Sciences University (NHSU), the university has raised nearly $4 million of its $8 million capital campaign cash goal, while the "Imagine Our Future" campaign, designed to establish a permanent endowment at NHSU, has raised more than a third of its $15 million goal.
The cash gifts will fund the Wolfe-Harris Center for Excellence, a three-story addition to the south side of the campus, as well as extensive renovations to the university's current building. According to campus officials, construction of the 48,000 square-foot addition is on schedule, and the university's research division (the Wolfe-Harris Center for Clinical Studies) is expected to take occupancy of the new facility later this spring. The remaining two floors are scheduled to open in September 2008.
In other NHSU news, the university recently received a $250,000 donation from whole-food supplement manufacturer Standard Process to help create an on-campus healing garden. The 11,000 square-foot garden will feature regional plants, eight themed sensory gardens, and four water features representing NHSU's four colleges and the four foundational elements of the university's mission.
"This is an extremely generous gift," Forseth said. "It is because of partners like this that we are able to fulfill our mission of becoming the nation's university of choice for natural health care. We are in awe of their generosity."
An American DC in Bangkok
San Francisco chiropractor, Dr. Alireza Bagherian recently returned from Bangkok, Thailand, where he assisted Team USA in winning one silver and two bronze medals at the World MuayThai Festival. Dr. Bagherian served as team doctor for the U.S. competitors, working ringside and providing a variety of services, including taping, bracing and attending to acute/subacute musculoskeletal injuries.
The World Muay Thai Festival featured international representation - more than 100 teams, each with approximately 15-20 athletes, competed in the event. The festival was organized to showcase Muay Thai as a sport, as well as to commemorate the king of Thailand's 80th birthday.
Muay Thai is an ancient form of martial arts; practitioners of the modern form compete in a ring with gloves. Muay Thai is known as "The Art of the Eight Limbs" because competitors can strike their opponent with the hands, shins, elbows and knees, as opposed to traditional Western boxing, which utilizes only two limbs (hands) and kickboxing, which utilizes four limbs (hands, feet).
