Alternative medical methods enjoy broad acceptance by the public, but are rarely integrated into conventional medical practice. In the largest prospective randomized study of its kind, published by the Lancet, the candidate showed that non-pharmacologic analgesia in the form of self- hypnotic relaxation during invasive medical procedures significantly reduces patients' pain anxiety, drug use, number of complications, hemodynamic instability, and procedure time. This results in substantial resource savings. The immediate goal of the candidate is to expand and validate this concept of integrated alternative/conventional health care delivery across disciplines. The long-term goal is the successful transition from scientific investigation to general implementation of acute non-pharmacologic analgesia in clinical settings. The candidate is uniquely situated to achieve the state goals: A strong foundation in laboratory and clinical research as well as her position as Director of International Radiology provides her the necessary credibility to promote and implement mind body intervention during invasive medical procedures. Her acceptance by both conventional medical and mind-body oriented professional societies permit integration of her methods into both communities. The candidate's RO1 and DOD funding focuses on assessment on non-pharmacologic analgesia during invasive vascular procedures and during large core breast biopsy. Under the proposed mid-career award, she will (1) acquire authoritative expertise in the introduction and quality assessment of non- pharmacologic analgesia techniques in conventional clinical settings (2) assume a key role in the newly established Harvard-wide Division for Research and Education and Complementary and Integrative Medical Therapies, and (3) mentor the next generation of researchers and practitioners in this field. Towards these aims the candidate will acquire additional research skills in educational technology, quality assessment, and web-based dissemination; acquire expertise in additional complementary and alternative therapies; and will make available to other researchers data banks, ideas, experience and patients in fully monitored clinical environment. She will assume primary mentoring responsibility for a total of 15 beginning clinical researchers. Upon completion, the candidate will have established herself as an authority in the introduction and quality assessment of combined alternative/conventional medical practices. The mentoring of beginning clinical researchers will have contributed towards fostering a self- sustaining mode of integrated practice in the future.
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