TUESDAY, JUNE 15, 2021

9:00am – 9:15am EDT

Welcome Back Remarks

9:15am – 10:15am EDT

Global Perspectives on Acupuncture and Traditional East Asian Medicine

Speakers:

Terje Alraek (Norway)

Stefan Costescu (Romania)

Dominik Irnich (Germany)

Yair Maimon (Israel)

Oliver Cuignet (Belgium)

Henri Yves Truong Tan Trung (France)

Moderator: Ari Ojeda Ocampo Moré, MD, MSc PhD (Brazil)

10:15am – 10:45am EDT

Discussion Panel with Q&A with Participants

10:45am – 11:45am EDT

FEATURED Poster Session / Visit Exhibitors

View featured poster presentations (these would typically be oral presentations at an in-person conference), ask questions about posters in the chat area, and visit virtual exhibit booths

Featured Posters include:

1. A systematic review of acupuncture therapies for recurrent urinary tract infections in women

Meaghan Coyle, RMIT University; Xindong Qin, Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine; Jueyao Liang, Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine; Lihong Yang, Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine; Kaiyi Wang, RMIT University; Xinfeng Guo, Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine; Anthony Lin Zhang, RMIT University; Wei Mao, Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine; Chuanjian Lu, Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine; Charlie C Xue, RMIT University; Xusheng Liu, Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine

2. Acupuncture decreased the risk of coronary heart disease in patients with osteoarthritis in Taiwan: A nationwide matched cohort study

Gil Ton, Graduate Institute of Acupuncture Science, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan.; Hung-Rong Yen, College of Chinese Medicine, Graduate Institute of Chinese Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan; Yu-Chen Lee, Graduate Institute of Acupuncture Science, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan

3. Acupuncture for chemotherapy-associated insomnia in breast cancer patients: a pilot randomized controlled trial

Jialing ZHANG, University of Hong Kong; Zongshi QIN, University of Hong Kong; Tsz Him SO, University of Hong Kong; Haiyong CHEN, University of Hong Kong; Lixing LAO, University of Hong Kong; Zhangjin ZHANG, University of Hong Kong

4. Auricular acupressure for patients with emotional distress under the COVID-19 pandemic: a randomized controlled trial

Peijing Rong, Institute of Acu.-Moxi., China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences; Lei Wang, Institute of Acu.-Moxi., China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences; Lingling Yu, Tongji Hospital of Tongji Medical College; Junying Wang, Institute of Acu.-Moxi., China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences

5. Comparison between Vagal Nerve Stimulation and Electroacupuncture at ST-36 for Treating Opioid-induced Constipation in rats

Yiling Zhang, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine; Li Cui, Johns Hopkins University; Xue Lin, Johns Hopkins University; Jiande Chen, University of Michigan

6. Development of a Model Acupuncture Research Curriculum for EAM Schools

Heidi Most, Maryland University of Integrative Health; Lisa Conboy, New England School of Acupuncture at MCPHS; Rosaleen Ostrick, Yo San University

7. Electroacupuncture suppresses spinal nerve ligation-induced neuropathic pain via regulating synaptic plasticity through upregulating the expression of bFGF

Kecheng Zhou, The Second Affiliated Hospital and Yuying Children's Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University; Guanhu Yang, Wenzhou Medical University; Songhe Jiang, The Second Affiliated Hospital and Yuying Children's Hospital

8. Herbal Medicine as a Critical Element of Integrative Cancer Care: A Retrospective Analysis of the Herbal Dispensary Program at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Yen Nien Hou, MSKCC; Jun Mao, MSKCC

9. Multi-brain functional connectivity during electro-acupuncture in patient-clinician dyads: an electroencephalography (EEG) hyperscan approach

Alessandra Anzolin, MGH/HMS Athinoula Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging; Arvina Grahl, MGH/HMS Athinoula Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging; Kylie Isenburg, Boston University; Jlenia Toppi, Sapienza, University of Rome; Angela Ciaramidaro, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia; Maya Barton Zuckerman, MGH/HMS Athinoula Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging; Meryem Yucel, Boston University; Dan-Mikael Ellingsen, University of Oslo; Laura Astolfi, Sapienza, University of Rome; Ted Kaptchuk, Harvard Medical School; Vitaly Napadow, Harvard Medical School

10. Neural and behavioral correlates of patient-clinician therapeutic alliance in a longitudinal acupuncture intervention: an fMRI hyper-scanning study

Arvina Grahl, Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States; Alessandra Anzolin, Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States; Kylie Isenburg, Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States; Jeungchan Lee, Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States; Maya Barton-Zuckerman, Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States; Dan-Mikael Ellingsen, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; Changjin Jung, KM Fundamental Research Division, Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine, Daejeon, Korea; Jessica Gerber, Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States; John Kelley, Endicott College, Beverly, MA, United States; Irving Kirsch, Program in Placebo Studies & Therapeutic Encounter (PiPS), Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States; Ted Kaptchuk, Program in Placebo Studies & Therapeutic Encounter (PiPS), Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States;  Vitaly Napadow, Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, United States

11. Self‐administered acupressure for insomnia disorder: a randomized controlled trial

Wing Fai YEUNG, School of Nursing, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University; Ka Fai CHUNG, Department of Psychiatry, The University of Hong Kong; Zhang Jin ZHANG, School of Chinese Medicine, The University of Hong Kong; Lixing LAO, School of Chinese Medicine, The University of Hong Kong; Lorna Kwai Ping SUEN, School of Nursing, Tung Wah College; Fiona Yan Yee HO, Department of Psychology, the Chinese University of Hong Kong; Lai Ming HO, School of Public Health, The University of Hong Kong; Branda Yee-Man YU, School of Nursing, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

12. Shen Ling Bai Zhu San for Chronic Diarrhea - A Systematic Review of RCTs and Meta-Analysis

Hui Wang, MSKCC; Guang’anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences; Yen-Nien Hou, MSKCC; Mingxiao Yang, MSKCC; Ye Feng, MSKCC: Peking University Cancer Hospital & Institute; Yi Lily Zhang, MSKCC; Colleen M. Smith, MSKCC; Wei Hou, Guang’anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences; Jun J. Mao, MSKCC; Gary Deng, MSKCC

13. Spinal adiponectin is involved in electroacupuncture-produced analgesic effects

Zhipeng Ning, The University of Hong Kong; Haiyong Chen, The University of Hong Kong; Zhangjin Zhang, The University of Hong Kong; Lixing Lao, Virginia University of Integrative Medicine

14. Transcutaneous electrical acustimulation as an adjunctive treatment for early stage acute pancreatitis: analgesic, prokinetic and anti-inflammatory effects

15. Using Machine Learning Techniques to Understand the Complexity of Pain Experience with Acupuncture Treatment

Carolina Ruiz, Worcester Polytechnic Institute; Ali Yousefi, Worcester Polytechnic Institute; Ruofan Hu, Worcester Polytechnic Institute; Connor McLaughlin, Worcester Polytechnic Institute; Efi Kokkoutou, Beth Israel Hospital, Harvard Medical School; Lisa Conboy, New England School of Acupuncture at MCPHS

16. Virtual acupressure for symptom management in cancer populations during COVID-19: a retrospective analysis

EunMee Yang, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute; Weidong Lu, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute; Anna Tanasijevic, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute; Jennifer Ligibel, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

11:45am – 12:00pm EDT

Break / Networking with Exhibitors

12:00pm – 1:15pm EDT

Symposia 2: Acupuncture and the Treatment of Chronic Physical and Emotional Pain

Speakers:  Chad M. Brummett, M.D., Senior Associate Chair for Research, Bert N. LaDu Professor of Anesthesiology, Division of Pain Medicine, University of Michigan Medical School; Rick Harris, PhD LAc, University of Michigan; Rosa Schnyer, DAOM IFMCP LAc, Clinical Assistant Professor, University of Texas, Austin, School of Nursing, and Jun J. Mao, MD, MSCE, Laurance S. Rockefeller Chair in Integrative Medicine, Chief, Integrative Medicine Service, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center 

Chronic pain continues to be major burden on health care with 1 in 5 individuals in the US displaying some form of chronic pain, at the cost of over 500 billion dollars annually.  There exists a large body of research for the action of acupuncture for the treatment of chronic pain, yet the underlying mechanisms have yet to be fully identified.  This session will include presentations of novel data from an NIH/NCCIH funded RCT examining brain neurochemistry involved in acupuncture treatment of chronic pain; results from a recent clinical trial of acupuncture for inpatient cancer-related pain; and an overview of opioid treatment of chronic pain and discuss limitations, leaving open the opportunity for non-pharmacologic therapies to be useful.  In alignment with our first symposium on pandemics, Dr. Rosa Schnyer will discuss the impact of social isolation on mental health during the time of COVID.

Presentation details include:

Insular Neurotransmitter Balance and Associated Connectivity in Fibromyalgia is Intertwined with Pain and Acupuncture Analgesia

Acupuncture for chronic pain has been shown to be statistically superior to sham/placebo, but the effect size is small, potentially due to shared factors. Indeed, sham and verum acupuncture can both evoke somatosensory afference which is a key understudied factor. Somatosensory activity is also an important outcome in pain as individuals with fibromyalgia (FM), a widespread chronic pain disorder, also display altered sensory amplification. We previously demonstrated that sensory amplification in FM is due in part to enhanced excitatory (glutamate + glutamine: [Glx]) and reduced inhibitory (g-aminobutyric acid: [GABA]) neurotransmitter levels in the insula. FM patients also display increased resting, or intrinsic connectivity to this structure which may be related to neurotransmitter imbalance. To investigate the role of somatosensory afference and brain outcomes, we randomized 76 FM patients to receive either electro-acupuncture (EA) evoking strong somatosensory afference or mock laser (ML) which lacked somatosensation. Neuroimaging of insular Glx and GABA as well as resting brain connectivity was performed at baseline and after treatment. We found patients receiving EA had greater reduction in pain severity compared to ML (p=0.036). Participants receiving EA also displayed increased resting functional connectivity between the insula and the primary somatosensory (S1) cortex (p0.05). This increase in insula-S1 connectivity was associated with increases in insular GABA (r=0.48, p=0.046) following EA only, and increases in insular GABA were associated with reductions in clinical pain (r=-0.59, p=0.01). Thus, insular GABA mediated the relationship between changes in S1-insula connectivity and reductions in pain severity, implicating an inhibitory neurotransmitter in acupuncture analgesia involving somatosensory afference. We hypothesize that acupuncture analgesia involves insular long term synaptic potentiation of GABAergic synapses resulting in lasting inhibition of chronic pain.

Distress and the Human Heart: The Other Pandemic-Can Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine Play a Significant Role?

The last decade has seen a steep escalation of mental health crises across the socioeconomic and generational spectrum. It is estimated that more than 1 in 10 people worldwide live with a mental health disorder. These numbers do not account for people who experience significant emotional distress but do not fit the criteria for a psychiatric disorder. There is increasing evidence that depression, anxiety, PTSD, and substance abuse are not only highly comorbid with chronic pain, but have a bi-directional relationship: psychiatric disorders may modify the risk of chronic pain, and pain may contribute to psychiatric disorders due to their shared psychosocial factors and neurobiological mechanisms. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a substantial additional impact across the globe on mental well-being, not only due to the psychosocial stressors associated with the pandemic but also due to the potential direct effects of the virus itself: Infection-triggered perturbation of the immune system could induce psychopathology, and psychiatric sequelae were observed after previous coronavirus outbreaks. Experimental and clinical evidence suggest that acupuncture modulates the somatosensory, emotional and cognitive experience of chronic pain, and that it may affect the sympathetic system via mechanisms at the hypothalamic and brainstem levels, having a profound impact of the stress response system, emotional regulation and potentially acting as a neuroplasticity promoting intervention. Furthermore, acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine have shown promising augmentation of other emotion regulating interventions. This presentation will explore future directions for evaluating the potential role of acupuncture and

Chinese herbal medicine in the management of the soaring mental health global crisis.

Oncology Acupuncture for Pain Management in Cancer Survivors

Dr. Mao will present the epidemiology of pain in cancer survivors as well as the clinical challenges of managing pain in this population. He will review several key past research studies that evaluate the effect of acupuncture in cancer survivors. He will then present the results from the PEACE randomized clinical trial recently published in JAMA Oncology. In this trial among 360 cancer survivors with chronic musculoskeletal pain, both electroacupuncture and auricular acupuncture significantly reduced pain, reduced pain medication, and improved quality of life as compared to usual medical care. The effects of both types of acupuncture persisted at the six-month follow-up. Auricular acupuncture was not as effective as electro-acupuncture and was associated with increased adverse events (mostly ear pain/discomfort). Our study provides a strong evidence base for the integration of both electroacupuncture and auricular acupuncture into comprehensive pain management for millions of cancer survivors.

1:15pm – 1:45pm EDT

Panel Discussion: Can Acupuncture Be Covered by Mainstream Health Care Reimbursement?  

Panelists include: Ben Kligler, MD will contribute to this panel by bringing the experience of acupuncture in the VA into the discussion. Henry Buchtel LAc, an acupuncture clinician who is also involved in acupuncture clinical research, will bring the practitioner’s voice into the discussion.  Finally Chanta Van Laanen, DACM, Dipl OM, LAc will add the perspective of insurance reimbursement for acupuncture for chronic pain. 

This panel will continue the discussion of the opioid epidemic and the role for TEAM therein.  It will also explore the reimbursement of acupuncture for chronic pain within the VA as well as through Medicare and Medicaid.  This panel will also continue the discussion of the role for acupuncture in mental health (emotional pain) which is exacerbated by the ongoing viral pandemic.

1:45pm – 2:45pm EDT

Meet the Experts

An opportunity for junior researchers and practitioners to connect in one-on-one discussions with senior researchers and practitioners