UNTHSC physician appointed to NIH advisory council
By Alex Branch
A UNT Health Science Center physician will serve on an advisory board for the leading federal agency for research on complementary and integrative health.
Kendi Hensel, DO, PhD, FAAO, Associate Professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine, will serve on the National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Research Advisory Council for Complementary and Integrative Health until 2022.
Council members review and make recommendations to NIH leadership regarding grant applications to support biomedical research and research training activities, according to the NIH.
Complementary and Integrative Health is the joining of conventional medicine with natural products and mind and body practices in a coordinated way. Herbs, vitamins, probiotics, yoga, meditation and manual therapies are examples of complementary care. Dr. Hensel will bring an expertise in osteopathic manipulative medicine to the advisory council.
“I’m looking forward to learning about how the NCCIH sets research priorities, how they develop their research policies and to see the kinds of research proposals that are submitted,” Dr. Hensel said. “I’m also looking forward to hearing the speakers that are brought in to discuss research needs, and to provide an osteopathic perspective and input.”
The use of complementary and integrative approaches to health and wellness has grown across the country in recent years, according to the NIH. More than 30 percent of adults and 12 percent of children use approaches that are not typically part of conventional medical care or have origins outside of usual Western practice.
Physicians, scientists, complementary health practitioners and members of the public are on the advisory board. Members convene three times a year to provide second-level peer review, as well as advice and recommendations on the prioritization of complementary and integrative health research.
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