Helene Langevin is Director of the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). She was a professor in the

University of Vermont College of Medicine The Robert Larner College of Medicine is the medical school of the University of Vermont, a public research university in Burlington, Vermont. Established in 1822, it is the nation's seventh oldest medical school. The primary teaching hospital for ...

's Department of Neurological Sciences. She is best known for characterizing certain

cellular Cellular may refer to: *Cellular automaton, a model in discrete mathematics * Cell biology, the evaluation of cells work and more * ''Cellular'' (film), a 2004 movie *Cellular frequencies, assigned to networks operating in cellular RF bands *Cell ...

and mechanical effects of

acupuncture Acupuncture is a form of alternative medicine and a component of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in which thin needles are inserted into the body. Acupuncture is a pseudoscience; the theories and practices of TCM are not based on scientifi ...

. She was also a Professor in Residence of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women's Hospital. Prior to working at NIH, Langevin was the Director of the Osher Center for Integrative Medicine, jointly owned by Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Langevin was

principal investigator In many countries, the term principal investigator (PI) refers to the holder of an independent grant and the lead researcher for the grant project, usually in the sciences, such as a laboratory study or a clinical trial. The phrase is also often us ...

of studies funded by the

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in the late ...

. ''

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'' describes her as a "celebrity" in the world of acupuncture.

Biography

Langevin received an MD degree from McGill University in 1978. She did a post doctoral research fellowship in Neurochemistry at the MRC Neurochemical Pharmacology Unit in Cambridge, England, residency in Internal Medicine and fellowship in Endocrinology and Metabolism at Johns Hopkins Hospital. She was a Professor in Residence of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women's Hospital. She was also a part-time Professor of Neurology, Orthopedics and Rehabilitation at the University of Vermont College of Medicine. She was the Principal Investigator of two NIH-funded studies investigating the role of connective tissue in low back pain and the mechanisms of manual and movement based therapies. Her previous studies in humans and animal models have found that "needle grasp", the biomechanical component of de qi, may be caused by connective tissue winding around the needle. Helene Langevin was appointed as Director of the Osher Center for Integrative Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital in November 2012.

Research related to acupuncture

In December 2001, a study by Langevin and several other researchers at the

regarding the "Biomechanical response to acupuncture needling in humans" was published by the

peer-review Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work (peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the relevant field. Peer review ...

ed ''

Journal of Applied Physiology The ''Journal of Applied Physiology'' is a monthly peer-reviewed medical journal of physiology published by the American Physiological Society. The journal was established in 1948, and is currently edited by Sue Bodine. According to the ''Journal ...

'', which examined the effects of mechanical tissue stimulation during tissue stretch and during

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Langevin, Helen Living people Acupuncturists American endocrinologists Women endocrinologists University of Vermont faculty Alternative medicine researchers McGill University Faculty of Medicine alumni Year of birth missing (living people)