Request is made for partial support of a conference entitled ?International Conference on Complementary, Alternative, and Integrative Medicine Research?. Principal request is for funds to underwrite travel and accommodation costs of faculty and review committee chairs as well as items in support of logistics, audiovisual capabilities, and portions of compensation for selected conference staff. The course has been offered in Germany in 2000 and will be offered in San Francisco in 2001, Boston in 2002, and either United Kingdom or Germany in 2003. Development and implementation of this conference will be managed by Drs. Eisenberg (Boston) and Ellen Hughes (Osher Center for Integrative Medicine, San Francisco). Robert Scholten (Librarian at the Center for Alternative Medicine Research and Education in Boston) will assist with selection and coordination of faculty, abstract review, course scheduling, contracting with vendors and venues, marketing, syllabi, and post-course evaluations. There are plans to expand the faculty in each of the 2 successive years to include more minority and international representation on the faculty. Also there are plans described to solicit evaluations of the course conference from attendees and to support a one-day post-conference evaluation of the course by a group of conference session chairs and course directors. This will provide information for continuous appropriate expansion of the content and improvement of delivery of the course. The intention of this annual conference is to create a forum in which the latest research data will be presented and critically evaluated; to foster interdisciplinary, interinstitutional, and international collaboration among investigators; to develop and refine research methodologies applicable to CAM investigations; and to heighten professional and public awareness about importance of practicing evidence based CAM clinical research and health care. Additional financial support will derive from the Osher Foundation and from registration fees: the requested funds from NCCAM will amount to about a third of the estimated costs of the conference.
