School of Health and Population Sciences:

• Department of Nursing and Physiotherapy -
  Dr Andrew Soundy, Lecturer in Physiotherapy
  
  Public Health, Epidemiology and Biostatistics -
  Dr Yen-Fu Chen, Senior Systematic Reviewer
  Dr Kate Jolly, Senior Lecturer Consultant
  Dr Jonathan Shapiro, Senior Lecturer in Health Service Research
  Dr Carole Cummins, Senior Lecturer, Institute of Child Health
• Primary Care Clinical Sciences -
  Dr Heather Draper, Director, Centre for Biomedical Ethics
  Dr Jonathan Ives, Lecturer, Centre for Biomedical Ethics
  Dr Jonathan Reinarz, Director, Centre for the History of Medicine
  Dr Sheila Greenfield, Senior Lecturer
  Dr Sabi Redwood, Research Fellow in Medical Sociology
  Dr. Lesley Roberts, Senior Lecturer
  Dr Taina Taskila, Research Fellow

School of Clinical and Experimental Medicine:

Dr Girish Dwivedi, Clinical lecturer in Cardiology
Dr Jeetesh Patel, Post Doctoral Fellow
Mr Sukhdev Singh, Consultant Gastroenterologist, Senior Lecturer, Department of Medical Science

School of Dentistry:

Dr Kirsty Hill, Lecturer in Behavioural Science and Dental Public Health

School of Immunity and Infection:

• Department of Rheumatology
  Kanta Kumar, Nurse Researcher                  

We are a group of academics, clinicians and patients with an interest in conducting research in Traditional, Complementary and Alternative Medicines (CAM), primarily in the Birmingham and West Midlands region. CAM includes an extremely diverse group of approaches to managing health and wellbeing, including traditional medical systems, such as Traditional Chinese Medicine and Ayurveda, complementary therapies, such as reflexology and aromatherapy, alternative medical systems, such as homeopathy or osteopathy, mindfulness practices, such as meditation, and bodywork/exercise, such as yoga or tai chi.

CAMBRA is committed to supporting high quality research from all the academic disciplines that involves clinicians and patients. One in ten people in the UK use complementary and alternative medicine every year, mostly paying out of pocket in addition to their NHS care (Thomas & Coleman 2004). Because the choice to use CAM is such a widespread phenomenon, the influence of which goes beyond the conventional boundaries of medical treatment, it is appropriate to study it from a variety of disciplinary perspectives, including the medical and social sciences, humanities and the law.

Newsletters: 

Issue 1 (2010)

Issue 2 (2011)

References:
 
Thomas, KJ & Coleman, P (2004) ‘Use of complementary or alternative medicine in a general population in Great Britain. Results from the National Omnibus survey’, Journal of Public Health, 26:152-157

Current areas of research interest are listed below, although this list is not exhaustive.

Empirical Methods

• Clinical trials of specific CAM treatments
• Systematic reviews
• Health technology assessments
• Qualitative empirical research
• Health economic analyses

Conditions

• Irritable Bowel Syndrome
• Cancer
• Cardiovascular Disease
• Pain
• Psychosis
• Depression
• Obesity

CAM treatments

• Acupuncture
• Mindfulness
• Herbal Medicine

Social aspects of CAM use

• Use of CAM to Improve compliance
• Patient and public involvement
• Cultural and ethnic diversity and health beliefs/behaviours

Workforce and Legal Issues

• Training and professional development of practitioners
• Medical students’ awareness and understanding of CAM
• Regulatory frameworks in CAM
• Ethics in CAM practice and referrals

 

Badger F J & Nolan P (2007) Use of self chosen therapies by depressed people in primary care. Journal of Clinical Nursing 16: 1343-1352

Badger F J & Nolan P (2007) Attributing recovery from depression. Perceptions of people cared for in primary care. Journal of Nursing and Healthcare of Chronic Illness in association with Journal of Clinical Nursing 16(3a): 25-34

Gale NK (2010) ‘The embodied ethnographer: journeys in a healthcare sub-culture’ International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 9(2): 206-223.

Gale, Nicola K (2009) ‘Promoting patient-practitioner partnership in clinical training: a critical evaluation’ Learning in Health and Social Care, 8(1): 13-21.

Greenfield SM, Brown R, Dawlatly S, Reynolds J, Roberts S, Smith R. (2006) Gender differences among medical students in attitudes to learning about complementary & alternative medicine. Complementary Therapies in Medicine, 14, 207-212.

Greenfield SM, Pattison HM, Jolly KB. Use of complementary and alternative medicine and self-tests by coronary heart disease patients. BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine 2008,8:47

Quality Improvement Scotland. Evidence Note 24: Acupuncture for low back pain. September 2008. Available at: http://www.nhshealthquality.org/nhsqis/files/EN24%20Acupuncture%20final.pdf

Seers H, Gale NK, Paterson C, Cooke H, Tuffrey V & Polley MJ (2009) Combined analysis of qualitative and quantitative data from patients using complementary therapies in cancer support care. Supportive Care in Cancer, 17(9): 1159-1167.

Vickers K, Jolly K, Greenfield S*. Herbal medicine: women’s views, knowledge and interaction with doctors. BMC Complementary & Alternative Medicine 2006, 6:40

Evidence, Libraries and Information

NHS Evidence - Complementary and Alternative Medicine

This excellent site contains information about the most up-to-date medical scientific research on the efficacy and effectiveness of CAM treatments. Information is arranged by CAM modality and by medical condition.
http://www.library.nhs.uk/cam/

CAMLIS - Complementary and Alternative Medicine Library and Information Service.
http://www.cam.nhs.uk/

Searching PubMed for scholarly articles on CAM.
http://nccam.nih.gov/research/camonpubmed/

DoH policy statement on Homeopathy
http://www.dh.gov.uk/prod_consum_dh/groups/dh_digitalassets/@dh/@en/@ps/documents/digitalasset/dh_117811.pdf

Providers with an interest in research in the Birmingham and West Midlands region

Freshwinds.  Integrated Medicine Service. A local charity that runs an integrated medicine service free-of-charge.
http://www.freshwinds.org.uk/cms/integrated-medicine-3/

Other Research Centres and Networks

Complementary and Integrated Medicine Research Unit, University of Southampton. Active research unit with a focus on both qualitative and quantitative medical and health services research.
http://www.cam-research-group.co.uk/

University of Leeds

Based in the School of Healthcare, this research theme focuses on a multi-disciplinary approach to understanding traditional, complementary and alternative healthcare.

http://www.healthcare.leeds.ac.uk/research/traditional-complementary-and-alternative-medicine/index.htm

University of Bristol

CAM is one of the main research themes in the Academic Unit of Primary Health Care.
http://www.bristol.ac.uk/primaryhealthcare/theme4.htm

Research Council for Complementary Medicine
http://www.rccm.org.uk/

Journals

Journal of Complementary Medicine

This journal, based in Australia, carries articles and reviews relevent to medical practitioners.
http://www.informit.com.au/product_details.aspid=L_JCM&type=IL&product=true&ContainerID=humanities

Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine

Based in the US, this journal carries articles on current treatment, medical concepts and case reports.
http://www.liebertpub.com/products/product.aspx?pid=26

BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine

This open access journal focuses on reporting research that "explores the biological mechanisms of action, as well as their efficacy, safety, costs, patterns of use and/or implementation".  It focuses on medical research, rather than social sciences.
http://www.biomedcentral.com/bmccomplementalternmed/

Complementary Therapies in Medicine

With an Impact Factor of 1.841, this international journal is influential and carries a range of articles related to CAM. It encourages methodological pluralism, recognising the complexity of research in the field.
http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/623020/description#description

University of Birmingham:

College of Medical and Dental Sciences

School of Health and Population Sciences:

Department of Nursing and Physiotherapy

• Frances Badger, Research Fellow
• Dr Andrew Soundy, Lecturer in Physiotherapy

Public Health, Epidemiology and Biostatistics

• Dr Yen-Fu Chen, Senior Systematic Reviewer, West Midlands Health Technology Assessment
• Dr Kate Jolly, Senior Lecturer Consultant
• Dr Carole Cummins, Senior Lecturer, Institute of Child Health

Primary Care Clinical Sciences

• Dr Heather Draper, Director, Centre for Biomedical Ethics, School of Health and Population Sciences
• Dr Jonathan Ives, Lecturer, Centre for Biomedical Ethics
• Dr Sheila Greenfield, Senior Lecturer
• Dr Sabi Redwood, Research Fellow in Medical Sociology
• Dr. Lesley Roberts, Senior Lecturer, Primary Care Clinical Sciences
• Dr Jonathan Reinarz, Director, Centre for the History of Medicine
• Kanta Kumar, NIHR Doctoral Fellow
• Cathy Shneerson – PhD Candidate
• Rhona Alenka – PCCS, University of Birmingham
• Susan Read – Research Nurse
• Hannah Hall – Medical Student, University of Birmingham
• Charmaine Meek, Research Physiotherapist

School of Clinical and Experimental Medicine

• Dr Girish Dwivedi, Clinical lecturer in Cardiology
• Dr Jeetesh Patel, Post Doctoral Fellow
• Mr Sukhdev Singh, Consultant Gastroenterologist, Senior Lecturer, Department of Medical Science

School of Dentistry

• Dr Kirsty Hill, Lecturer in Behavioural Science and Dental Public Health

College of Life and Environmental Sciences

School of Sport and Exercise Sciences

• Dr Victoria Burns, Roberts Research Fellow in Psychoneuroimmunology

School of Psychology

• Professor Peter Trower, Director of Professional Training, School of Psychology

Birmingham and Sollihull Mental Health Trust

• Dr David Booth

College of Arts and Law

Birmingham Law School

• Dr Julian Lonbay, LLB, Doctor of Law, EUI
• Prof Jean V. McHale, Director of the Institute of Medical Law, Birmingham Law School

Department of Education

• Erica Lepnis, PhD Student

Medicine, Ethics, Society and History (MESH)

• Angus Dawson – MESH, UoB

Department of Drama and Theatre Arts

• Rose Whyman

Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health Foundation Trust:

• Dr Andy Fox, Clinical Psychologist
• Olivia Horgan, Physiotherapist
• Joanna Barber, Volunteer music therapist
• Jan R Oyebode
• Director, Clinical Psychology Doctorate, University of Birmingham Consultant Clinical Psychologist (Older People)
• Prof George Tadros, Consultant, Honorary Professor, Stafford University

Birmingham Children’s Hospital:

• Becca Cooke, Transition Nurse Coordinator, Birmingham Children’s Hospital
• Dr Janet E McDonagh, Clinical Senior Lecturer in Paediatric and Adolescent Rheumatology, Institute of Child Health, University of Birmingham & Birmingham Children's Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
• Rev Paul Nash, Senior Chaplain, Birmingham Children's Hospital
• Ms Julie Reed, Consultant Clinical Psychologist and Team Leader for Paediatric Psychology
• Amy Hargreaves – Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health Trust
• Analisa Smythe – Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health Trust
• Debra Leigh – Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health Trust

Other Organisations:

• Dr Rhonda Lee, Vice President/Director Integrated Medicine, Freshwinds 
• Thomas Kingstone, Research Associate, Freshwinds. 
• Tina Sexty, Nutritional Therapist 
• Dr Roberta Bivins, Associate Professor, Department of History, University of Warwick 
• Prof George Lewith, University of Southampton 
• Jennifer Barnes, Programme Manager FdSc Complementary Medicine, School of Law, Justice and Community Studies, Blackburn College 
• Angela Carryer – Staffordshire University 
• Ann Goddard – Worcester Health & Care NHS Trust 
• Richard Hawkins - Bangor University
• Anne Lloyd – SureSearch 
• Helen Jameson – Light for Health Ltd 
• Indu Ravindranath – Birmingham East & North PCT 
• Merlin Young – Moxafrica 
• Michelle Crosbie – University of Wolverhampton 
• Polly Wright – HEARTH 
• Pankaj Smith – Freshwinds 
• Sally Nash – Youth St John’s Ambulance, Nottingham 
• Sandra Tigwell – The College of Chiropractors 
• Stephen Jeffreys – SureSearch 
• Tony Devaney – SureSearch (patient group) 
• Mike Weisand - GP, Birmingham
• Denise Visconte, Complementary Medicine Research Unit, Southampton University 
• Elaine Malkin, User/practitioner 
• Mohammed Zaman – SureSearch 
• Sarah Finberg - Medical Herbalist 
• Sue Savage - Dudley and Walsall Mental Health Trust