Presenters
Hear leaders in the scientific community share their updates on the latest research around massage therapy’s role in managing important health issues.
Keynote Speakers
Jeffery A Dusek, PhD, is Professor in the Department of Medicine, University of California- Irvine (UCI) and Director of Research Outcomes, Susan Samueli Integrative Health Institute (ssihi.uci). Dr. Dusek has 25+ years of experience leading innovative integrative health and medicine (IHH) research at research and healthcare institutions.
Over the past 10 years, Dusek has received NIH funding for four studies. Dusek was PI of NCCIH R01 to further explore the effectiveness (or outcomes) of integrative interventions (massage therapy, acupuncture) on repeated measures of self-reported pain for hospitalized patients. Dusek was also PI of a multi-site NCCIH R01 to study the effects of acupuncture on acute pain for individuals in three Emergency Departments affiliated with the BraveNet Practice Based Research Network (PBRN). More recently, Dusek serves PI of a multi-site NCCIH R01 to study the music therapy for pain in individuals with sickle cell disease. He is also PI of a NCCIH U24 network grant to assemble music therapists, neuroscience experts and clinical trialists to explore the biological basis of how music therapy impacts pain. Dusek also serves as the co-leader of the BraveNet PBRN– which includes 32 well-known IHH groups across the US, as well as in Canada, Australia, Brazil and Korea.
Dusek has published over 120 scientific articles in peer reviewed medical literature and, according to Google Scholar his research has been cited over 10,700 times. His research has been published in eminent journals such as the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Circulation, JAMA Network Open and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. His research has been featured in such venues as the New York Times, Washington Post, Boston Globe, USA Today and National Public Radio.
Tracy Gaudet, MD, is a leader in the development of Whole Health through decades of radically re-envisioning and implementing new approaches to address health outcomes and costs. She is co-founder of the Cornerstone Collaboration for Societal Change. Prior to this, she served as the founding Executive Director of the Whole Health Institute. Dr. Gaudet was also the Founding Executive Director of the Veterans Health Administration’s National Office of Patient Centered Care and Cultural Transformation. This Office led VHA’s transformation to Whole Health, an approach to healthcare that empowers and equips people to take charge of their health and live their most meaningful life. Under her leadership, VA health care delivery has been re-envisioned and is being implemented nationally.
Previously, Dr. Gaudet served as Executive Director of Duke Integrative Medicine (DIM) at Duke University Health System. Under her leadership, DIM created a state-of-the-art healthcare facility dedicated to the transformation of medicine through the exploration, demonstration, and research of new models of patient-centered care. Prior to her work at Duke, Dr. Gaudet was the Founding Executive Director of the University of Arizona Program in Integrative Medicine, leading the design of the country’s first comprehensive curriculum in this new field and launching the distant learning fellowship. In addition, Dr. Gaudet co-founded the Academic Consortium for Integrative Medicine and Health.
Dr. Gaudet has been recognized throughout her career for her contributions in driving the transformation of healthcare. She was featured in the PBS nationally acclaimed special entitled “The New Medicine,” and named by Shape magazine as one of the eleven women who shape the world. Dr. Gaudet has been recognized as one of the “Top 25 Women in Healthcare” by Modern Healthcare and featured as a Game Changer in Fortune Magazine. She was honored with the Bravewell Leadership Award for her contributions to advancing the field of medicine, recognized for her significant leadership that benefited our Nation’s Veterans with the Exemplary Service Award, and was honored with the Visionary Award from the Academy of Integrative Health & Medicine for her leadership in transformative healthcare. Most recently, she was selected as the 2024 recipient of the Linus Pauling Award in Functional Medicine. Dr. Gaudet is also the author of Consciously Female, a book on integrative medicine and women’s health, and Body, Soul, and Baby.