Inaugural Osher Integrative Medicine Research Forum: An Overview

conference Update T hose who attended the Inaugural Integrative Medicine Research Forum hosted by the Osher Center for Integrative Medicine at Harvard Medical School (HMS) and Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Masssachusetts, had the unique experience of viewing an interactive research network, 670 individuals representing 19 different institutions, seeing poster presentations from 38 investigators, and hearing presentations that described impressive clinical and educational programs that are underway in the Boston area. Throughout the proceedings, two themes emerged: conventional medicine has suffered from artificial boundaries, and collaboration is essential if integrative medicine is to fulfill its promise. The forum, held on November 3, 2014, is widely considered as having been pivotal and historic: for the first time, Boston-wide research activity was presented and quantified. This led Helene Langevin, MD, Osher Center Director, to call for a new era of collaboration. " We must continue to build bridges, cultivate collaborations and fuel our collective efforts to integrate integra-tive medicine, " she said, noting that Boston is a unique environment for integrative medicine and has multiple active centers. " Today's meeting is a physical embodiment of our network map, " Dr Langevin said. " We hope that some of you will find new colleagues with common interests and new opportunities for collaborating, sharing, and leveraging resources. " dean for graduate education at HMS, reminded attendees that the school's academic inquiry in the field of complementary medicine officially began in 2001 with the establishment of the Osher Center, first directed by David Eisenberg, MD, a site which has since evolved to become a " center without walls. " He noted that long before the center was established, Dr Eisenberg and Herbert Benson, MD, were respected pioneers in the field. In his remarks, Dr Benson, director emeritus of the Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine (BHI) at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and an HMS faculty member, provided a historical perspective on mind-body medicine that emphasized Harvard's role. " Before the scientific method was developed, there was only integrative medicine, " Dr Benson noted. " At Harvard, Oliver Wendell Holmes studied the impact of the patient-doctor relationship, and in the 1920s and 1930s, Walter Cannon identified the fight or flight response. " Many years later, Dr Benson studied the physiological impact of meditation and coined the term " relaxation response. " The 2 keynote speakers are experts in the study and creation of networks. the common …