The National Advisory Council for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NACCAM) welcomes two new members. The Council is the principal advisory body for the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), the lead federal agency for complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) research and a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

The Council is composed of physicians, scientists, licensed CAM practitioners, and members of the public. Members contribute their expertise over 4-year terms and meet three times per year to offer advice and recommendations on prioritization, conduct, and support of CAM research, including research training and communication of evidence-based health information.

The new NACCAM members are

• M. Katherine Shear, M.D., Columbia University School of Social Work, New York, N.Y.
• Xiaoming Tian, M.D., C.M.D., L.Ac., Academy of Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine, Bethesda, Md.

M. Katherine Shear, M.D., is the Marion E. Kenworthy professor of psychiatry and director of the Bereavement and Grief Research and Training Program at Columbia University, New York, N.Y. She mentors students and new faculty at Columbia and at the University of Pittsburgh, Pa., where she is on the adjunct faculty. Dr. Shear earned her doctor of medicine from Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, Mass., and completed residencies in internal medicine and psychiatry at Mt. Sinai Hospital, New York, N.Y., and the Payne Whitney Clinic, New York, N.Y., respectively, and a National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) training fellowship in psychosomatic medicine. Dr. Shear has authored more than 200 articles and contributed to numerous books. She reviews articles for many professional journals, including the New England Journal of Medicine and the American Journal of Psychiatry, and has been on review committees for NIMH and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Dr. Shear also co-chairs both the Public Information Committee of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology and the Psychotherapy Committee of the American College of Psychiatry, is associate editor for Journal Watch Psychiatry, and is on the editorial board for the Journal of Depression and Anxiety.

Xiaoming Tian, M.D., C.M.D., L.Ac., is director of the Academy of Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine and Wildwood Acupuncture Center in Bethesda, Md. He received his medical degree from Beijing Medical University, Beijing, China, where he specialized in sports medicine, pathology, and traditional Chinese medicine. Dr. Tian completed postdoctoral fellowships at Sinai Hospital, Baltimore, Md., and the NIH. He was appointed as a clinical consultant on acupuncture at the NIH Clinical Center in 1991. Dr. Tian was an adjunct professor of rheumatology at Georgetown University Medical School, Washington, D.C., where he was a co-investigator on a clinical trial using acupuncture for fibromyalgia. Dr. Tian’s other research interests include studying Chinese herbal medicine to treat arthritis, osteoporosis, fibromyalgia, and sports injuries. Dr. Tian was appointed to the White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Policy and served as an advisor for the Pan American Health Organization and the World Health Organization. Currently, Dr. Tian is an assistant professor at the United States Uniformed Health Service Medical School, vice president of the World Federation of Chinese Medicine Society, and president of the National Association of Chinese Medicine.

The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine’s mission is to explore complementary and alternative medical practices in the context of rigorous science, train CAM researchers, and disseminate authoritative information to the public and professionals. For additional information, call NCCAM’s Clearinghouse toll free at 1-888-644-6226, or visit the NCCAM Web site at nccam.nih.gov. NCCAM 1999–2009: Celebrating 10 years of rigorous research.