SAR 2017: Advancing the Precision Medicine Initiative through Acupuncture Research - Abstract
The upcoming Society for Acupuncture Research (SAR) Conference, titled "SAR 2017: Advancing the
Precision Medicine Initiative through Acupuncture Research,” is an international-targeted conference that will
critically examine recent advances in acupuncture research that both have the potential to strengthen the
evidence base for its integration with contemporary health care and better define the agenda for cross-
disciplinary and translational acupuncture research in the coming years. Held in the San Francisco Bay Area,
a key goal of this conference is to actively disseminate important research findings to the acupuncture
research community and multiple related fields of biomedical research. The theme of the SAR 2017
conference will explore how the recent focus on personalized medicine can benefit from research on
acupuncture and traditional East Asian medicine. Conversely, we will also explore how ideas emerging from
personalized medicine can help us better explore individual variability and responders / non-responders that
have been a hallmark of clinical and mechanistic acupuncture research studies. This focus will be reflected in
specific symposia at the 2017 Conference. However, our key goal has always been to provide a forum to
actively disseminate important research findings across the research spectrum, and this conference will
continue to do just that. In fact, a new initiative will be to solicit not just abstracts, but also symposia topics
from the research community, with the most meritorious submission chosen as a plenary symposium. The
primary co-sponsor of this conference will be the Department of Anesthesia at Stanford University. The 2017
conference program will include fifteen 30-minute plenary lectures from thought leaders spanning different
areas of acupuncture research as well as precision medicine. These plenaries will be grouped into 5 clusters
of 3 talks with complementary content, each of which will be followed by a moderated and structured panel
discussion including audience participation. In addition, as in past SAR conferences, high quality
presentations of original research will be solicited from junior and established researchers for oral and poster
presentations. Workshops scheduled prior to the conference will offer guidance for a range of experience
levels. An international Scientific Review Committee, composed of SAR Board members and multiple
external reviewers, will employ a rigorous peer review process to assure quality and relevance of original
research and to advise the Program Committee in the selection of oral abstract presentations. Broad
marketing efforts will target researchers, students, healthcare administrators and health policy analysts. The
West Coast locale will in fact encourage attendance by researchers from Asia and Australia. Our Aims will be
to (1) Provide an international forum for researchers to assess acupuncture findings that clarify and
strengthen the evidence base and shape future research agenda; (2) Foster interdisciplinary dialogue and
collaboration between researchers representing multiple East Asian medicine, CAM and biomedical
disciplines in order to develop innovative translational strategies to address current challenges in
acupuncture research; and (3) Enhance international communication between acupuncture stakeholders
(researchers, policy makers, practitioners) and both junior and senior researchers to provide mentoring and
build bridges between different research communities. Our SAR 2017 meeting will explicitly explore
connections between acupuncture and precision medicine, allowing acupuncture research to inform current
clinical mandates.