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Lorenz Attractor THE ILLUMINATED Rumi |
CENTER FOR FRONTIER MEDICINE IN BIOFIELD SCIENCE University of Arizona and Institute for Frontier Science |
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE CENTER 1. Introduction and Overview The University of Arizona, in collaboration with the Institute for Frontier Science in California has been awarded funding from the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to create a Center for Frontier Medicine in Biofield Science (CFMBS). This first-of-its-kind integrative research Center includes:
NIH funded the Center’s Administrative Core, located in the Department of Surgery at the University of Arizona’s College of Medicine, plus three major research projects:
Project 1: Bacterial Growth & Motility Assays for Biofield Therapy (Dr. Beverly Rubik, Project Director). The specific aim of this project is to develop a standardized bioassay marker (in vitro bacterial growth and movement) for quantifying the potential healing effects of Therapeutic Touch, and then to apply this marker to other biofield therapies, such as Johrei and Reiki. The research is conducted at the Institute for Frontier Science in Oakland, California. The Institute is a 501(c) (3) nonprofit corporation founded by Dr. Rubik in 1996 and initially funded by Laurence S. Rockefeller, Sr. The purpose of the Institute is to conduct research and education on frontier topics in science and medicine, with an emphasis on exploring biofield energies and energy medicine. Students from various institutions, including the Union Institute and University’s Graduate College, receive training at the Institute.
Project 2: Psychophysiological and Biophysical Effects of Biofields (Dr. Gary E. Schwartz, Project Director) The specific aim of this project is to explore psychophysiological (primary measures: laboratory and 24 hour ambulatory heart rate variability and EEG spectral analyses) and biophysical (secondary analyses: ECG-EEG synchrony; tertiary analyses: bioradiation measures) comparing the effects of Johrei and Qigong using cross-sectional and prospective research designs. The research is conducted in the Department of Psychology at the University of Arizona’s College of Social and Behavioral Sciences.
Project 3: Biomedical Effects of Johrei on Recovery from Surgery (Dr. Allan J. Hamilton, Project Director) The specific aim of this project is to examine purported clinical effects of Johrei biofield therapy on recovery from inguinal herniorraphy [hernia] and coronary artery bypass graft surgery using both non-blinded and double-blind research designs. The non-blinded design includes supplementary ECG and EEG measures recorded simultaneously from the practitioner and the patient to investigate psychophysiological (primary) and biophysical (secondary) predictions. The research is conducted in the Department of Surgery at the University of Arizona’s College of Medicine. Details concerning three major projects and the Administrative Core are described below.
2. What is Frontier Medicine and Integrative Science? NCCAM conservatively defined frontier medicine as “those CAM practices for which there is no plausible biomedical explanation.” Their definition included “bioelectromagnetic therapy, biofield/energy healing, homeopathy, and therapeutic prayer/spiritual healing.” NCCAM established their “Exploratory Program Grants for Frontier Medicine” to “create an infrastructure to nurture and therefore advance this field of biomedical research by providing the institutional support and resources necessary for rigorous scientific investigation.” The Center for Frontier Medicine in Biofield Science is carefully designed to be integrative and interdisciplinary. It rigorously adopts mainstream scientific theories, methods and measures and creatively applies them to frontier questions, therapies, and technologies. The Center’s approach to integrative science includes:
The Center foster an integrative science approach and applies it to confirming, reinterpreting, or disconfirming diverse claims made by biofield / energy medicine practitioners regarding the efficacy and mechanisms of their therapeutic modalities.
The University of Arizona has been an international leader in integrative science and medicine. Visible examples in collaboration with the Center include:
The Center for Frontier Medicine in Biofield Sciences draws upon these and other integrative programs within and beyond the University of Arizona (for example, the Institute for Frontier Science in Oakland, California; Dr. Rubik, Director, with graduate student interns from Union Institute and University, Cincinnati, Ohio).
3. What is the Biofield? How is it related to Energy Medicine? Dr. Beverly Rubik, along with Mr. Richard Pavek, an electrical engineer and biofield practitioner, coined the term “biofield” at a consensus meeting sponsored by NCCAM / NIH in the early 1990’s (Rubik et al, 1995). In physics, the term “field” refers to “a force which can cause action at a distance” (Hintz et al, 2002). Everyday examples of fields include gravitational fields and electromagnetic fields. Though field effects may be weak (in terms of power), they nonetheless have measurable effects on matter. The term “biofield” focuses on bioelectromagnetics (including bioradiation), and other biophysical fields (known and hypothesized – such as quantum field effects) that play a potential regulatory role in cellular structure and function. It is important to recognize that fields are “invisible” and are not “material.” The lines of force that extend out from a magnet, for example, have effects in the vacuum of space; these fields are “non-material” in the sense that they have no “mass” (they are not objects) yet they can have replicable effects on physical objects at a distance. In physics, the term “energy” refers to “the capacity to do work and overcome resistance” (Hintz et al, 2002). Einstein’s famous formula E=mc2 revealed the fact that mass is actually “organized energy” and that matter and energy are fundamentally interrelated. Fields of force can vary (1) in the energy they express, and (2) the information they carry. The term biofield combines aspects of both energy and information in its description. Basic biofield science requires the careful integration of quantum physics, physics, biophysics (including bioelectromagnetics), and bioengineering, in order to obtain a comprehensive and accurate description of the phenomena. The Center for Frontier Medicine in Biofield Science focuses on the integration of quantum physics, physics, biophysics, and bioengineering with contemporary systems science (including nonlinear dynamical systems, feedback regulation, self-organization, networks, chaos, and complexity). The Human Energy Systems Laboratory at the University of Arizona has conducted pioneering research applying conventional biomedical and digital satellite technology to the measurement of certain aspects of the human biofield. The Center will extend this research, using mainstream technologies (e.g. 12 gigahertz detectors employed in digital television reception) to monitor low-level microwave and radiation-based fields emitted by the body. It is anticipated that new discoveries and technologies will lead to innovative commercial applications. 4. The Administrative Core The basic organization of the Center, as a whole, is illustrated below: The Center will sponsor the following activities:
5. The Center Directors The Center is headed by a team of four senior scientists (two women and two men) whose academic training involves a combination of disciplines including biophysics, microbiology, neuroscience, psychophysiology, clinical psychology, medicine, surgery, and psychiatry.
Each of the four senior scientists is trained not only in conventional health-care theories and therapies, but also in biofield / energy medicine theories and therapies as well. The combination of modalities includes Healing Touch, Reiki, Johrei, and Homeopathy. In addition, Dr. Hamilton has training in biofield / energy medicine as applied to animals; he is skilled in “natural horsemanship” – a biofield / energy approach to human-horse relationships which he teaches to medical students. This unique combination of conventional and CAM expertise is essential for the Center to fulfill its integrative research mission. The team has diverse administrative skills important for creating a world-class biofield integrative science Center:
There is a large team of senior and junior scientists (as well as biofield / energy medicine practitioners) associated with the Center. |
