National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine

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The stated mission of the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is "to support rigorous research on complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), to train researchers in CAM, and to disseminate information to the public and professionals on which CAM modalities work, which do not, and why."

History: "NCCAM was established, by Congressional mandate, under provisions of the Omnibus Appropriations Act, P.L. 105-277 (42 USC 287c-21). The Center's predecessor, the Office of Alternative Medicine, was established in 1992."

For a useful review of how CAM was mainstreamed see ""Integrative medicine": A brand, not a specialty."

History

"Arguably the most powerful symbol of the recent coming of age of alternative medicine in the United States was the establishment of the Office of Alternative Medicine (OAM) within the National Institutes of Health. The two legislators with the greatest responsibility for the growth of this office, and for the overall nurturing of alternative medicine within the vast medical-government complex, have been Senators Tom Harkin and Orrin Hatch." [1]

Key People

  • October 1992—Dr. Joseph J. Jacobs is appointed first Director of the Office of Alternative Medicine (OAM).
  • September 1994 – Alan I. Trachtenberg, M.D., M.P.H., is appointed Acting Director of the OAM.
  • January 1995 – Wayne B. Jonas, M.D., is appointed the second Director of the OAM.
  • January 1999—Dr. William R. Harlan is named Acting Director of NCCAM.
  • October 1999—Dr. Stephen E. Straus is appointed the first Director of NCCAM.
  • November 2006—The Center's founding Director, Dr. Stephen E. Straus, steps down and becomes Senior Advisor to NIH Director Dr. Elias A. Zerhouni. Dr. Ruth L. Kirschstein is named Acting Director of NCCAM.
  • January 2008—Dr. Josephine P. Briggs is named second Director of NCCAM.

Advisory Council[2]

Ex Officio Members

Advisory Council (2013)

Accessed February 2013: [3]

Ex Officio Members

Resources and articles

Related Sourcewatch

Criticism

  • Mielczarek, E., Engler, B. 2012. Measuring Mythology: Startling Concepts in NCCAM Grants. Skeptical Inquirer 36(1)(January/February):35-43, 2012. Short version

References

  1. ↑ Robert Johnson, The Politics of Healing: Histories of Alternative Medicine in Twentieth-Century North America (Routledge, 2004), pp.3-4.
  2. ↑ National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine Advisory Council, organizational web page, accessed August 19, 2018.
  3. ↑ National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine Advisory Council, organizational web page, accessed February 26, 2013.
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