NCCIH Research Blog

On Friday, January 15, 2021, the National Advisory Council for Complementary and Integrative Health (NACCIH) will hold an online-only meeting. We invite interested stakeholders to hear updates on the Center’s activities, policies, and funding priorities during the meeting’s Open Session. You can view the livestream from 11:40 a.m. to 4:05 p.m. ET on NIH VideoCast, where it also will be archived. Please note the new, later start time for the Open Session (11:40 a.m. ET) to better accommodate Council members and viewers from the west coast. The agenda is posted, and registration is not necessary.

The NACCIH meets three times per year and is charged with advising, consulting with, and making recommendations to the Center Director on matters relating to NCCIH’s research activities and functions. In closed sessions, it provides secondary review of grant applications in light of NCCIH research priorities and program balance.

The Open Session will begin with a report to the Council from NCCIH Director Helene Langevin, M.D. We will also hear a presentation by Bruce J. Tromberg, Ph.D., Director of the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB). At NIBIB, Dr. Tromberg oversees a portfolio of research programs (approximately $400 million per year) focused on developing, translating, and commercializing engineering, physical science, and computational technologies in biology and medicine. He also leads NIBIB’s $500 million Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx) Tech innovation initiative to increase SARS-CoV-2 testing capacity and performance. Dr. Tromberg’s talk will cover areas of research interest common to both NIBIB and NCCIH.

Also on the agenda is Mary Beth Kester, M.S., Director of the NCCIH Office of Policy, Planning, and Evaluation. She will lead a presentation on the NCCIH strategic plan for 2021–2025, which has been progressing in development. Other speakers include:

• Lanay M. Mudd, Ph.D., program director in the NCCIH Division of Extramural Research (DER), who will speak about NCCIH’s activities for increasing the number and diversity of well-prepared and skilled clinical investigators who have knowledge and expertise in complementary health.
• Wendy J. Weber, N.D., Ph.D., M.P.H., branch chief of the Clinical Research in Complementary and Integrative Health Branch, DER, who will speak about a research concept for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Health Care Systems Research Collaboratory, which has been proposed for the Council’s clearance.

The Open Session usually closes with a public comment period. Because this meeting will be entirely virtual, public comments will be accepted in writing only, based on National Institutes of Health (NIH) policy. We will accept public comments (up to 750 words) for 15 days after the meeting; please email them to me at khalsap@mail.nih.gov by January 30, 2021. They will be added to the official meeting minutes and posted on the NACCIH portal within 90 days of the meeting.

We invite you to join us for all or part of this Open Session.  

• View the January 15, 2020 Council agenda.
• Join the meeting via NIH VideoCast.