The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) has expanded the scope and impact of its research centers by providing six major awards. With these new awards, NCCAM is continuing the commitment it made in 2003 to enhance CAM research capacity by funding centers at institutions across the country. The six recipients of these grants and their first year funding totals include:

Centers for Excellence for Research on CAM:

• The Osher Center for Integrative Medicine will receive nearly $1.2 million to investigate the use of mindfulness-based stress reduction, an ap­proach in which meditation is used to help reduce stress and better manage emotions in people with HIV.

• McLean Hospital/Harvard Medical School will receive a little over $1 million to evaluate whether certain traditional Chinese medicines and an electrical acupuncture technique can be used to prevent addiction relapse and craving for alcohol and drugs of abuse.

• The University of North Carolina was awarded $1.2 million to conduct basic clinical research to identify antioxidant CAM therapies for asthma.

Developmental Centers for Research on CAM:

• The University of Minnesota and Bastyr University were jointly awarded $777,000 to conduct laboratory, translational and clinical research exploring the biological basis of the effects of mushroom extracts on the immune system’s response to tumors and the feasibility of using the extracts for cancer therapy and reduction of radiation therapy side effects.

• Oregon Health and Science University, National College of Naturopathic Medicine, Oregon College of Oriental Medicine and Western States Chiropractic College were awarded $840,000 to focus on defining and understanding “placebo effects,” particularly patient expectation and other factors related to patient-provider interactions that produce desired biological effects.

• University of North Texas Health Science Center, Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine and Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine were awarded $620,000 to conduct laboratory, animal and patient studies of the effects of osteopathic manipulation on the musculoskeletal system, lymphatic fluid flow and reduction of pain from back and neck strain.