SAR's 2021 International Research Conference Is Happening in June!

VUIM is proud to announce that the University is sponsoring the Society for Acupuncture Research (SAR)’s Conference this year. The conference will be hosted virtually due to the pandemic, and it is going to take place between June 14-17. For more information, please visit SAR official website.

The SAR’s 2021 Conference is organized around the theme of Roles and Relevance of Traditional East Asian Medicine as it relates to the current world environment. This year, the conference aims to broaden its usual focus on acupuncture to include Chinese Herbal Medicine, Qigong, and related mind-body research as well. This will also be the first acupuncture and TEAM research forum focused on the current global viral pandemic. During the conference, there will be a presentation about the current studies, discussing both limitations and opportunities, to improve the rigor of these investigations to strengthen the evidence base.

About SAR: The Society for Acupuncture Research (SAR), co-founded by Patricia Culliton, Hannah Bradford, and Stephen Birch in 1993, began several years earlier as an informal group (the Committee for Acupuncture Research) to discuss methodological concerns in acupuncture research. After several meetings in 1991 and 1992, the group evolved to become a formal organization, the Society for Acupuncture Research, whose original vision was to foster scientifically sound inquiries and stimulate scholarship in acupuncture and Oriental medicine. To this end, SAR decided to sponsor international biannual conferences on research advances and issues in acupuncture and Oriental medicine. SAR is currently guided by Co-Presidents Rick Harris, PhD, and Jun Mao, MD, with a total of 14 board members.

As a student of VUIM, you can register to become a member of SAR for free. University Affiliate membership benefits include:

• • Monthly updates highlighting relevant research (vie SAR monthly newsletter)

  • Discounted registration to SAR-hosted events

  • A copy of the most recent conference booklet, including abstracts of papers and poster

  • presentations from the conference

  • Discounted subscription rates (up to 50%) to SAR official journal, the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine

  • Access to the “Members Only” section of SAR website which includes special resources and references available solely to SAR members (includes resources regarding methodology, systematic reviews, and more)

  • Opportunities for committee involvement to support SAR’s work and connect further with other experts in the field

  • Exclusive individual access to SAR’s full library of condition-specific Evidence-Based Assessments

To join SAR as a University Affiliate, visit https://www.acupunctureresearch.org/membership then click the red link “Join Now or Subscribe to EBAs.” Choose either “Professional Member” or “Student Member” (if a full-time student). Then complete the form with coupon code affiliate-1 to waive the registration fee. Once you submit the form, please send an email to info@acupunctureresearch.org with a request to link your new profile to VUIM’s membership.

Please note that University affiliate membership fees will be waived through November 25, 2022, and then for as long as the linked university’s SAR institutional membership stays active.  If your institution does not renew its membership at that time, you may receive an invoice for membership dues ($225 for individual professionals and $65 for full-time students). If you do not wish to continue your SAR membership in that case, please disregard the invoice and send us an email at info@acupunctureresearch.org to let us know to archive your membership profile (so that you don’t continue to receive auto-generated invoices).

Additionally, SAR is also offering a scholarship to students and junior researchers. Application deadline is May 31, 2021. Please check out their flyer for more information:

Click here to download the Scholarship Application PDF

We look forward to seeing our students at the SAR’s 2021 Conference and we wish everyone the best of luck with the scholarship!