In May 2011 the first conference of the Centre for Health Law, Science and Policy “Regulation and Professionalisation in Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM)” was held at the University of Birmingham.

The conference was made possible by a grant from the Wellcome Trust to Professor Jean McHale (Law) and Dr Nicola Gale (Health Sciences). The aim of the conference was to explore questions of regulation and professionalization in complementary and alternative medicine, using the historical debates around the development of CAM practice to inform current debates and policy initiatives.

The conference brought together an international group of speakers and participants from backgrounds ranging from CAM practice, policy, medical historians, medical sociologists, biomedical ethics and law to consider these questions. Key note lectures were given by Professor Mike Saks, Provost, University of Sussex and Professor Julie Stone, Peninsular Medical School.

 The Conference will be followed in May 2012 with a Wellcome Trust funded Workshop developing the themes from the conference.