NCCAM celebrates its 5th anniversary

The NIH National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) celebrated its 5th anniversary in January 2004. According to Stephen E Straus, director of NCCAM, the Center’s research portfolio includes over 300 projects, ranging from basic inquiries using powerful brain imaging techniques to understand how acupuncture works to the largest ever placebo-controlled clinical trials of popular dietary supplements, such as glucosamine for degenerative arthritis and Ginkgo biloba for dementia. The NCCAM invites input for its second 5-year strategic planning effort from the public, researchers, healthcare professionals, NCCAM staff and others with an interest in research in CAM. It was awarded a budget of US$117.7 million for 2004, making a budget increase of US$67 million from when it was founded in 1999.

http://nccam.nih.gov/news/2004/013004.htm