2022 International Congress on Integrative Medicine and Health

Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland OH

Investigators

Abstract

This R13 application requests support for a conference entitled, 2022 International Congress on Integrative Medicine and Health, to be held at the at the Sheraton Grand at Wild Horse Pass in Phoenix, Arizona from March 23-26 2022. The conference is sponsored by the Academic Consortium for Integrative Medicine and Health (Consortium), which represents over 75 academic health centers and health systems in the U.S., Canada, Australia, Brazil, and Mexico, with programs in integrative health. This conference will showcase original scientific research involving complementary and integrative health therapies, using keynote and plenary presentations, posters, symposia and workshops. Basic science, clinical, and health service researchers will present original research and moderate panel presentations selected through a peer-review process. Leaders in the field have agreed to provide keynote addresses and other leaders will be invited to moderate concurrent research presentations. The planning for the conference is overseen by the Oversight/ Organizing Committee, which is composed of the Chairs of the Program, Scientific Review, and Finance Committees, together with the Chair and Vice Chair of the Consortium. The Program Committee, with 14 members representing diverse areas in integrative health, has key responsibility for planning the meeting content, including selecting the plenary speakers and meeting symposia. The Oversight/Organizing Committee and Program Committee members are leaders from the conventional and complementary medical research communities. Proposals for sessions (symposia, featured discussions and workshops) have been solicited, as were submission of research abstracts. Research abstracts will undergo peer-review for quality in a process conducted by the Scientific Review Committee using a pool of 80-100 expert reviewers through a de-identified peer review process. This will be the 7th scientific conference sponsored by the Consortium. The most recent conference, in 2018 in Baltimore, MD, had 908 attendees, representing over 150 academic institutions and organizations from 26 countries. There were 784 scientific abstracts submitted, of which 90 were accepted for oral presentations, and 564 for poster presentations. The conference was highly rated, with 93% of participants rating the quality as excellent or good. Unfortunately, the 2020 International Congress had to be cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to the cancellation, more than 740 individuals, including 120 studen ts and trainees, were registered to participate in the 2020 Congress. We would have welcomed over 1,000 participants if the pace of registration had continued. We had received 485 abstract submissions with an 87% overall acceptance rate and 124 session submissions with a 46% overall acceptance rate. Twenty-three student/trainee oral (5%) and 132 (31%) poster presentations were accepted. Despite having to cancel the 2020 International Congress, we did host an online poster session and published in an abstract supplement. The online poster session drew 484 participants and 2,428 web sessions. This grant is specifically aimed at increasing attendance at the meeting by trainees and others with financial barriers to attendance. Most of the funding will be directed at reducing the student registration rate and providing travel scholarships. Travel scholarships will be awarded based on three criteria, elements of which will be assessed using a brief application for the awards: submission of an abstract with strong reviewer ratings, financial need, and bringing diversity to the meeting. Diversity in meeting attendees will be assessed in part based on training in integrative health fields that are less represented among established researchers. Overall, the ICIMH has distinguished itself one of the largest and highest quality scientific conferences on integrative medicine in the world via our stated goal of strengthening research and collaboration in integrative healthcare around the world.