NCCIH Research Blog

The Integrative Medicine & Health Symposium is taking place from Sunday, April 11 through Tuesday, April 13, and I am excited to tell you about three sessions sponsored by the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) during the meeting. Hosted by the Academic Consortium for Integrative Medicine & Health, this biennial event is intended to foster the development of new collaborations and to strengthen existing partnerships within the field of integrative medicine and health. Please note this meeting requires paid registration.

Echoing the meeting theme of “innovation,” the NCCIH-sponsored sessions will showcase natural products in the treatment of COVID-19, artificial intelligence to understand salutogenesis (the process by which individuals move from a less healthy to a healthier state), and how the arts can be used to promote health and well-being. We very much look forward to engaging the community in conversations about these cutting-edge areas of science.

Our first session, The Roles of Natural Products in COVID-19 Vaccine and Therapeutics, will take place on Monday, April 12 at 12:45 p.m. ET. The session will highlight three scientists whose research focuses on leveraging the gut microbiome, identifying the antiviral nature of human-associated bacteria, and learning about the role of vitamin D in regulating immunity.

The Potential of Using Artificial Intelligence To Solve the Puzzle of Salutogenesis will take place the next day, on Tuesday, April 13 at 10:00 a.m. ET. I will speak at this session alongside NCCIH Director Dr. Helene M. Langevin and Dr. Lanay Mudd, program director in the NCCIH Division of Extramural Research. We will discuss a new National Institutes of Health (NIH) initiative involving artificial intelligence (AI) that will provide opportunities to generate multilevel datasets on health restoration/salutogenesis. This initiative will bring novel and transformative analytical methods to the complementary and integrative health community.

Later that day, I will participate in our final session, Harnessing the Potential of Art-Based Interventions for Health and Well-Being, at 12:45 p.m. ET. This session will highlight initiatives like Sound Health, a partnership among NIH, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts; the EpiArts Lab, which brings together academia, the NEA, and philanthropic organizations; and the NeuroArts Blueprint global initiative with the Aspen Institute and the Johns Hopkins International Arts + Mind Lab: Center for Applied Neuroaesthetics. All focus on the impact of the arts on health and well-being—an area of particular importance during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Our Center is excited to be able to take part in this symposium, and we hope you will join us for what promises to be three exciting sessions. For questions about NCCIH involvement, please email nccihderinquiries@mail.nih.gov.