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FACULTY & STAFF

NESA Research Staff
NESA Research Faculty
External Collaborators

NESA Research Staff:

Julie E. Dunn, PhD
Co-Director of Research

Julie Dunn received her BA in biology from Grinnell College and her MS in biological science from Oregon State University before making a career change to public health and chronic disease epidemiology. She earned her PhD from the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health, and went on to a postdoctoral fellowship in cardiovascular and nutritional epidemiology at Northwestern University. While at Northwestern Julie served as project director and later co-investigator for the Northwestern University Clinical Center of the Women's Health Initiative. In 2000 Julie relocated to the Boston area, where she served as co-principle investigator for the first comprehensive community-based survey of foot and ankle disorders to be done in the United States.  Also, she was the principle investigator for an NIH-sponsored Women's Health Initiative ancillary study on nutrition and lifestyle predictors of cognitive aging in older women at the New England Research Institutes. Since 2004 Julie has also held an appointment at Tufts University where she teaches epidemiologic study design at the Friedman School of Nutrition and Science Policy. Her interest in acupuncture research was first piqued by the excellent response of her cat to acupuncture treatments for arthritis. ("Clearly, positive expectations of treatment on the part of the patient were not involved here.") In 2007 she joined NESA as Co-Director of Research. She is a member of the Society for Epidemiologic Research, the American College of Epidemiology, and the Society for Acupuncture Research. Julie enjoys gardening, photography, sweeps rowing, and scuba diving, and is active in an international children's literacy charity, Books for Brazil.

Lisa Conboy, PhD
Co-Director of Research

Lisa Conboy received her BA in psychology and sociology from Wellesley College. She began her work in health research as a medical sociologist with an interest in social factors and health. Lisa became interested in Chinese medicine about 20 years ago due to its positive effects on her own health. To better study Chinese medicine, she added to her research toolkit, earning a doctorate in epidemiology from the Harvard School of Public Health. Lisa has focused her research over the last ten years to questions on acupuncture and Oriental medicine, as well as social factors and health. She has worked with researchers in mind-body medicine, Ayurveda, yoga, and epidemiology. In addition to her faculty positions at NESA and The University of Massachusetts at Boston, since 2003 Lisa has held an appointment at The Osher Research Center at Harvard Medical School.

Lisa teaches research methodology at NESA. In her research and teaching she strives to produce work and train researchers that can address novel questions in scientifically sound ways. She has published in the areas of acupuncture and Oriental medicine as well as women's health, measurement development and medical sociology.

Lisa lives in Somerville, MA and is currently pursuing her certification in yoga instruction.

NESA Research Faculty:

Stephen Cina, MAOM, LicAc, ATC, ACSM H/FI

Stephen Cina specializes in the integration of Chinese and western medical approaches in the treatment of orthopedic disorders. Along with his Master of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine degree, Stephen is certified by the National Athletic Training Association as an athletic trainer and certified by the American College of Sports Medicine as a health and fitness instructor. Steve was the first to develop a craniosacral program at Pathways to Wellness and is the team acupuncturist for the Boston Bruins and the New England Patriots. As part of a pilot program, Steve practiced at the Sports Club LA in Boston where he provided acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine services. Stephen developed and manages the NESA Forum, an internet based community that allows faculty to post course materials and students to interact with their peers, faculty and alumni.  It also serves as a post-graduate virtual community for alumni. At Total Wellness Clinic, his holistic practice in Brighton, MA, Steve organized a cooperative of various practitioners providing services including acupuncture, craniosacral therapy, bodywork, naturopathy and osteopathy.

Steve's research experience includes his role as co-investigator on a paper titled "Electrical Properties of Acupuncture Points and Meridians: A Systematic Review" published in the Journal of Bioelectromagnetics. He also works as an acupuncturist serving the Martino's Center imaging team investigating event-related brain response to acupuncture using fMRI technology.

Steve is a Boston native and currently lives in Watertown, MA. He hopes to pursue a doctoral degree in Oriental Medicine.

Ellen Highfield, LicAc, MA

Ellen Highfield is a NESA faculty member and Director of the Integrative Therapies Team at Children's Hospital, Boston. She a co-authored a study assessing pediatric pain experiences and CAM practitioners' common practices. Ellen served as a consultant and treating acupuncturist for the team investigating acupuncture for endometriosis-related chronic pelvic pain in young women, advising them about the use of acupuncture in this adolescent population.

Weidong Lu, MPH, LicAc

Weidong Lu is a research faculty member at NESA, and a researcher and staff acupuncturist at Dana Farber Cancer Institute's Zakim Center. Weidong Lu received his medical degree (MB) from Zhejiang College of Traditional Chinese Medicine in 1983 and his MPH from the Harvard School of Public Health. Weidong Lu taught and conducted research in China before coming to the United States in 1991. As part of the NESA Acupuncture Research Collaborative, he is a co-leader of the clinical trial entitled "Acupuncture of Chemotherapy-Induced Neutropenia." He is also the co-investigator of an NIH-funded trial evaluating the effects of acupuncture on the quality of life in late-stage cancer patients, and has served as a consultant for numerous studies at Harvard Medical School's Osher Institute. He maintains a private practice in the NESA Clinic. Weidong Lu is also chairman of the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine's Committee on Acupuncture.

Rosa Schnyer, DiplAc, LicAc

Rosa Schnyer is an adjunct research faculty member at NESA and at Harvard Medical School's Osher Research Center, and a clinical assistant faculty at the University of Texas, Austin.  In DCRC I, Rosa served as co-leader on a methodological study entitled "Developing a Traditional East Asian Medical Structured Instrument (TEAMSI)" and as co-investigator on a clinical trial entitled, "Japanese-Style Acupuncture for Endometriosis-Related Chronic Pelvic Pain in Young Women."  Rosa has been a leader in the field of acupuncture research, evaluating acupuncture in the treatment of depression and developing innovative research methodologies that better reflect clinical practice. She has served as co-investigator or consultant to numerous NIH and privately funded studies, including trials investigating the efficacy of acupuncture for depression in pregnant women, repetitive stress injuries, chronic stroke symptoms and cerebral palsy. Rosa leads seminars on treating mood and anxiety disorders with acupuncture and Chinese herbs in NESA's continuing education program. She is co-president of the Society of Acupuncture Research (SAR). She received her Doctor of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine training at the Oregon College of Oriental Medicine (OCOM) and her acupuncture training at Tri-State College of Acupuncture.

Meredith St. John, MAc, LicAc

Meredith. St. John is a 1996 NESA graduate and has studied Chinese acupuncture and herbal medicine, Japanese palpatory styles of acupuncture, and the meridian therapy style of Takayuki (Koei) Kuwahara. Meredith has clinical experience in both private practice and integrative medical settings. Having obtained advanced training at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, treating oncology patients with acupuncture is currently a major focus of her practice. As part of NESA's NIH-funded research center, Meredith  developed a curriculum of clinical research on acupuncture efficacy and co-facilitated a faculty course entitled "How to Write a Publishable Case Report." An assistant professor at NESA, Meredith has taught numerous didactic and clinical courses since 2001, with an emphasis on case-based learning. She is active in faculty affairs and served on committees for faculty compensation and ranking, as faculty chair, and as faculty trustee on the board of trustees. Her undergraduate degree is from the University of Chicago.

Peter Valaskatgis, LicAc

Peter Valaskatgis has been practicing acupuncture since 1979, utilizing mainly Chinese acupuncture and herbal medicine. He is a 1977 graduate of NESA, a 1979 graduate of the International College of Oriental Medicine (Sussex, England) and a 1982 graduate of the "First International Course for Further Study on Acupuncture and Moxibustion" (Nanjing College of TCM, PRC).

Peter has been a faculty member of the CAS Department since 1981 - serving as department chair for ten years - and holds the rank of professor. He has also served as faculty trustee on the NESA board of trustees for nine years, and as a member of the Committee on Acupuncture - a subcommittee of the Mass. Board of Registration in Medicine - for ten years.

Peter served as a consultant for the SHARP study, an acupuncture/hypertension study funded by the NIH involving MGH and New England Research Institute. He also was a co-investigator for a multi-centered acupuncture/menopausal hot flash pilot study funded by the NIH, including MGH, Wake Forest School of Medicine, and the University of North Carolina School of Medicine.

Peter's publications include the following: co-author, "Randomized Controlled Pilot Study of Acupuncture Treatment for Menopausal Hot Flashes (Menopause Journal, Nov., 2008); principal investigator, co-author, "Possible Effects of Acupuncture on Atrial Fibrillation and Post-Herpetic Neuralgia " (Acupuncture in Medicine, March, 2008); co-author, "Stop Hypertension with the Acupuncture Research Program (SHARP): Results of a Randomized, Controlled Clinical Trial" (Hypertension Journal, Nov. 2006); author, Chapter 14, "Palpitations, Periods, and Purpose" (Acupuncture in Practice, MacPherson and Kaptchuk, Churchill Livingstone, 1997); author, "The Treatment of Low Back Pain" (Journal of Chinese Medicine, April 1982).

Peter has a private practice in Newbury, MA where he lives with his wife, Linda.

Peter Wayne, PhD

Dr. Peter Wayne is an instructor in medicine and director of Tai Chi Research Programs in the Harvard Medical School (HMS) Division for Research and Education in Complementary and Integrative Medical Therapies. He is also an adjunct faculty assistant professor at the Mass General Hospital Institute of Health Professionals, a clinical instructor in family medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine, and a research faculty member at NESA. Peter received his PhD in Biology from Harvard University, where he spent 15 years conducting research in evolutionary biology. He served as the founding director of the Oriental medicine research program at the New England School of Acupuncture (NESA) from 2000 to 2006, and currently serves as the principal investigator of the NCCAM/NIH-funded Developmental Center for Research in Complementary and Alternative Medicine program jointly awarded to NESA and HMS. 

Peter has substantial experience and skills in the design and management of CAM trials, and is currently the principal or co-investigator of a number of NCCAM-funded trials evaluating Tai Chi and acupuncture. He regularly serves as reviewer of NCCAM grants, and is a board member of the Society for Acupuncture Research. Dr. Wayne has 30 years of training experience in the Oriental arts of Tai Chi and Qigong, is a nationally recognized teacher of these practices, and is the director of the Tree of Life Tai Chi Center in the Boston Area.

External Collaborations:

Julie Buring, ScD served on the clinical core and as co-leader of the administrative core for DCRC I. She is professor of ambulatory care and prevention at Harvard Medical School; deputy director of the Division of Preventive Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital; and director of research at the Osher Institute.

Catherine Kerr, PhD served as co-leader on DCRC I Project 2, "Acupuncture for Endometriosis-Related Chronic Pelvic Pain in Young Women." She is an instructor in the Department of Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School and an expert in qualitative research associated with CAM trials.

Marc Laufer, MD served as co-leader of DCRC I Project 2, 'Acupuncture for Endometriosis-Related Chronic Pelvic Pain in Young Women'. Dr. Laufer is an assistant professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive biology at Harvard Medical School and a leading clinician and researcher in endometriosis and pelvic pain in adolescents.

Ursula A. Matulonis, MD served as co-leader for DCRC I Project 1 "Acupuncture for Chemotherapy-Induced Neutropenia." Ursula is the director of medical gynecologic oncology at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI) and an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. She has been an attending physician at DFCI and Brigham and Women's' Hospital since 1994 and an oncologist associated with the Leonard P. Zakim Center for Integrated Therapies at DFCI since 2000.  An active researcher in gynecologic malignancies, Ursula is involved with clinical trials for new drugs and immunotherapeutic agents, pain and symptom management, spiritual issues in cancer patients, and treatment for malignancies in the elderly. She also is an active member of the Harvard Brain and Behavior Group, a collaboration between Harvard Medical School and Harvard Divinity School. Ursula's clinical practice is devoted almost exclusively to gynecologic oncology with the majority of patients having epithelial ovarian carcinoma.

Steven Schachter, MD served on both the administrative and clinical cores of DCRC I. He is a professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School and associate director of clinical research at the Osher Institute.