Jennifer A. M. Stone MSOM, LAc. has practiced acupuncture and Chinese Medicine for over 30 years, and participated in acupuncture research for 18 years. She has participated in NIH funded research on both animal and human subjects. She served as Editor In Chief of JASA: The Journal of The American Society of Acupuncturists from 2014 to 2020, and is currently the senior editor of Medical Acupuncture.

Her research interests include acupuncture as an adjunct in the cancer setting for the palliation of symptoms associated with cancer treatments. She has published 3 papers and a book chapter on the use of acupuncture in the oncology setting and possible mechanisms behind the effects. Specifically she is interested in peripheral nerve pain and has conducted research on acupuncture for the treatment of post-herpetic neuralgia, publishing 2 papers on the findings. Her team at IUSM is currently working on a proposed research study to investigate the immunomodulatory mechanisms including mesenchymal stem cells on the effects of acupuncture in patients with post herpetic neuralgia.

Medical Acupuncture is an international peer reviewed scientific journal indexed on PubMed Central. Authors and readers of Medical Acupuncture are: acupuncture and Chinese medicine specialists, academics, military medicine specialists, conventional medicine practitioners, integrative medicine specialists, pain care centers, among others. Medical Acupuncture is the official journal of the American Academy of Medical Acupuncture (AAMA) and is a hybrid open access journal, which means that some of the content is private for AAMA members and journal subscribers and some of the content is free to the public.

The house list is for scholarly content marketing, invitations to contribute, notifications of upcoming special issues, and free content alerts. The free and open access content alerts: Free content is chosen by the publisher and is free temporarily for a period of time. Open Access content is free forever because the authors or funding pays for the publication processing fees.

To access past open access articles published in Medical Acupuncture visit PubMed Central: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/term=Medical+Acupuncture+Journal

Why are we disseminating acupuncture research?

Acupuncturists in the US have little or no access to research, evidence and scholarly content. Evidence is the hub of the US medical system. Evidence drives changes in policy. The objective of this project is to provide acupuncturists with acupuncture research and also the training to read and critically evaluate a research article and search for free and open access research from multiple sources online.

What will the research literacy training consist of?

  • How to read, critically evaluate and reference a research article

  • How to search for research online

  • Levels of evidence and the hierarchy of evidence

  • How to evaluate the quality of the journals, websites and databases.

  • What sources to avoid when providing references. (ex. Wikipedia, news and trade magazines)

ARDAIL is funded by the David and Lura Lovell Foundation. If you have any questions please contact the project lead, Jennifer Stone: jemeador@iu.edu

Representative Judy Chu (D-CA27) proposes the Acupuncture for Seniors 2021 Act, which qualifies licensed acupuncture and herbal medicine professionals to become Medicare providers. Passage of this act will create more opportunities to practice acupuncture and herbal medicine, expanding to more integrative settings and offering care to more Americans in need.

Now more than ever, acupuncturists need access to research and evidence to empower their advocacy efforts.

  • We need to advocate for our medicine with policymakers

  • We need to advocate for seniors and the disabled-on Medicare who are underserved

  • We need to advocate for our medicine as we enter into more integrative settings and work alongside allied health care providers.

Look for emails from ARDAIL and Medical Acupuncture. You should receive.

  • introduction to the program,

  • baseline “test your skills” survey,

  • a research literacy education module, including a video and hand outs

  • a follow-up “test your skills” survey,

  • and will be added to the Medical Acupuncture house list and will receive free content alerts.

* If you are not on this mailing list and you wish to receive free and open access content from Medical Acupuncture, please sign up for email alerts here: https://home.liebertpub.com/publications/medical-acupuncture/233/signup

ARDAIL ACTIVITIES: 117TH CONGRESSIONAL SESSION

Thanks! To everyone who completed the “test your skills” survey. The survey will be closed after Friday September 15th. The survey questions are meant to be difficult and encourage critical thinking. The answers and rationale for the questions will be provided after the survey is given again - after the research literacy training. I hope the survey inspired some folks to google answers to some questions

*For the over 50% of respondents who had difficulty with #2, think of the opioid epidemic. Sometimes drug manufacturers are dishonest in marketing. This below is from an article titled: The promotion and marketing of oxycontin: commercial triumph, public health tragedy. American Journal of Public Health. Click the link to read the full article.

"An in-depth analysis of the promotion and marketing of OxyContin (Purdue Pharma, Stamford, CT), a sustained-release oxycodone preparation, illustrates some of the key issues. When Purdue Pharma introduced OxyContin in 1996, it was aggressively marketed and highly promoted. Sales grew from $48 million in 1996 to almost $1.1 billion in 2000. The high availability of OxyContin correlated with increased abuse, diversion, and addiction, and by 2004 OxyContin had become a leading drug of abuse in the United States." https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2622774/

CALL FOR PAPERS

Are you seeing patients with COVID-19 "long hauler" symptoms?

Consider submitting an article to the Medical Acupuncture Special Issue: COVID ‘Long Haulers’: Treating Long-Term Effects of COVID-19 Syndrome

Covid long haul special issue

Below is an example from a University Library of the difference between a scholarly journal, a popular magazine and a trade magazine/journal.

https://stcloud.lib.minnstate.edu/subjects/guide.php?subject=PeerReview

When citing references, make sure your references are peer-reviewed. Otherwise, your reference does not qualify as evidence

Visit clinicaltrials.gov

A SPOTLIGHT ON BASIC SCIENCE RESEARCH

Who is Doing Basic Science Research?

In basic biomedical research, scientists explore mechanisms behind the formation and function of living organisms. Basic scientists’ area of study spans from small single molecules to large complex integrated functions in animals and humans. Basic science studies are often used to test the safety of drugs and products in animals prior to use in humans… and also to examine the mechanisms behind physiological changes.

Basic scientists have earned a masters in science MS or doctoral degree PhD in their area of study. Some have a duel clinical degree such as MD or RN/NP.

Indiana University School of Medicine (IUSM) research scientists engage in basic science research using acupuncture to drive biomedical changes that they can study in their labs. Here is a spotlight on three IUSM basic science researchers who use acupuncture in their research.

Fletcher White is a senior researcher PhD in neuroscience. Dr. White is not trained in Chinese Medicine himself, he collaborates with scientists who have expertise in Chinese Medicine.

Here is an example of Dr. White's basic science acupuncture work: Electroacupuncture promotes CNS-dependent release of mesenchymal stem cells https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5530374/

Here is a list of Dr. White’s publications on PubMed: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/fletcher.white.1/bibliography/public/?sortby=pubDate&sdirection=descending

Ying Wang is an NCCAOM certified acupuncturist, but she works as a PhD neuroscientist at IUSM.

Here is an example of Dr. Wang’s basic science research: Substance P modulates electroacupuncture analgesia in humanized mice with sickle cell disease

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6682765/

Here is a list of all of Dr. Wang’s work on sickle cell disease:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=Ying+Wang+sickle+cell+

Xiaoming Jin is a PhD in neuroscience and holds a MS degree from Zhejiang College of Traditional Chinese Medicine

Here is a list of all of Dr. Jin’s publications on PubMed:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/myncbi/xiaoming.jin.1/bibliography/41158407/public/?sort=date&direction=descending.