NCCIH Research Blog

As the new year begins, I want to congratulate Dr. Partap Khalsa on his recent retirement last month as director of the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) Division of Extramural Activities. He will be missed. He has been an important part of NCCIH’s scientific and senior staff since he joined the Center in January 2006 as a program director in the Division of Extramural Research (DER). He brought with him a wealth of knowledge and experience in sensory physiology and pain research. In 2014, he became the deputy director of DER helping to coordinate and manage DER research activities and staff. In 2017, Dr. Khalsa took over the reins as director of the Division of Extramural Activities (DEA) where he has served as the Executive Secretary for the National Advisory Council for Complementary and Integrative Health (NACCIH). I have had the privilege of working with him closely for many years. He has set an outstanding example, and it will be difficult to fill his shoes. If you would like to wish him well in the blog comments, we will share your sentiments with him. I am looking forward to interacting with you in my new role as DEA director.

I welcome you to join us virtually on Friday, January 20, 2023, for the open session of the next meeting of NACCIH.

The open session will be livestreamed from 11:40 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. ET on NIH VideoCast, and the recorded video will be made available at the same site several days later. Registration is not necessary.

The NACCIH is charged with advising, consulting with, and making recommendations to the director of the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) on matters relating to NCCIH’s research activities and functions. In closed sessions, Council provides secondary review of grant applications, taking NCCIH research priorities and program balance into consideration. The open sessions of Council meetings feature updates on NCCIH’s activities, policies, and funding priorities and often include guest speakers. 

Highlights of the January 20 meeting will include the following presentations and their discussion by Council members:

• Dr. Helene M. Langevin, director of NCCIH, will present an update on news, events, and activities at NCCIH since the last Council meeting in September 2022.
• Dr. Matthew W. Gillman, director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Program, will discuss the program’s research on key pediatric health outcomes with a high public health impact and explore areas of shared interest with NCCIH.
• Dr. Joshua Denny, chief executive officer of NIH’s All of Us Research Program, which is building a diverse database that can inform thousands of studies on a variety of health conditions, will present an update on the program’s status and discuss areas of shared interest with NCCIH. 

As always, comments from the public are welcome. Because this meeting will be held virtually, comments will be accepted in writing only, based on NIH policy. You may submit a comment of up to 750 words within 15 days after the meeting. Please email your comment to SchmidMa@mail.nih.gov by Saturday, February 4. Public comments will be added to the meeting minutes, which will be posted on the NACCIH portal within 90 days after the meeting. 

• View the January 2023 Council meeting agenda.
• Join via NIH VideoCast.