OCCAM Introduction Letter- Fall 2006 (2)

OMB #: 0925-0046-22
Expiration Date: 10/31/2006

Date: November 1, 2006

To: Cancer Researchers and Funders

From: Dr. Jeffrey D. White

Director, Office of Cancer Complementary and Alternative Medicine (OCCAM), NCI

Subject: Funding Directory of Cancer CAM Funding Organizations

I am the director of an office within the U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI) that develops and administers programs to support research relevant to the use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) for the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of cancer and cancer-related symptoms and treatment side effects. A major goal of our office is to increase the quality of cancer CAM research supported by the NCI.

One of the hurdles that many researchers encounter in exploring this field is the difficulty of obtaining research funding. In seeking to provide optimal assistance to such investigators, we are developing a directory of organizations that fund cancer research, have an open grant application process, and are receptive to applications that involve CAM research. If you have information to contribute to this effort, then I encourage you to participate in this survey, so that our funding directory can benefit from your knowledge and experience.

Your participation in this survey is completely voluntary. Please be assured that your responses will be kept confidential and will not be disclosed to anyone outside of NCI or its contractor, ASR Analytics, except as otherwise required by law. This survey should take approximately 15 minute to complete.

Please note that a wide range of topics meet our definition of CAM research. Most types of relevant therapeutic approaches fall under one of the following major categories.

• Alternative Medical Systems e.g. Traditional Chinese Medicine, Ayurveda

• Energy Therapies – both the use of electromagnetic fields and so-called “theoretical” energies such as qi, ki, prana, kundalini etc., which are associated with traditional, indigenous systems of health promotion.

• Exercise Therapies – both systems of exercise common to the West (e.g. aerobic or isometric) and those of other cultures (e.g. T’ai chi and yoga)

• Manipulative Therapies e.g. massage chiropractic or osteopathic manipulation

• Therapies designed to capitalize on Mind-Body Interactions (e.g. hypnosis, relaxation, meditation)

• Nutritional Therapeutics e.g. nutrients and non-nutrient, bioactive food components as chemopreventive agents; the use of specific foods or diets as cancer prevention or treatment strategies

• Pharmacological and Biologic Therapies e.g. herbal extracts, mixtures of tea polyphenois, unfractionated extracts from marine organisms such as shark cartilage. This also includes the off-label use of certain drugs traditionally used for other purposes (e.g. analgesics, antibiotics, neuroleptics etc.).

• Spirituality and Spiritual Therapies e.g. prayer, spiritual healing

If you have questions regarding the funding directory that we are developing, or about OCCAM in general, please contact Ms. Christina Armstrong, of my staff, at 301-435-7980 or [email protected]. Again, thank you for supporting this important effort.