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

Helene Langevin
3rd Director of the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health
Assumed office
November 26, 2018
Preceded byJosephine P. Briggs
Personal details
EducationMcGill University
WebsiteOffice of the Director
Scientific career
FieldsNeurological Science
InstitutionsUniversity of Vermont College of Medicine

She was a professor in the University of Vermont College of Medicine's Department of Neurological Sciences. She is best known for characterizing certain cellular and mechanical effects of acupuncture. 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 of studies funded by the National Institutes of Health.[1] The Boston Globe describes her as a "celebrity" in the world of acupuncture.[2]

Biography

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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.[3] 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.[2]

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.[4]

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In December 2001, a study by Langevin and several other researchers at the University of Vermont College of Medicine regarding the "Biomechanical response to acupuncture needling in humans" was published by the peer-reviewed Journal of Applied Physiology, which examined the effects of mechanical tissue stimulation during tissue stretch and during acupuncture.[5]

References

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  1. ^ Waring, Belle. "Langevin Explains Emerging Science of Connective Tissue". National Institutes of Health. Archived from the original on 5 August 2013. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
  2. ^ a b Chase, Stacey (November 26, 2006). "Point Taken". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on February 2, 2014. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
  3. ^ "Helene Langevin, M.D." University of Vermont. Retrieved 24 July 2015.
  4. ^ "Osher Center for Integrative Medicine". Brigham & Women's Hospital. Retrieved 24 July 2015.
  5. ^ Langevin, H. M.; Churchill, D. L.; Fox, J. R.; Badger, G. J.; Garra, B. S.; Krag, M. H. (2001). "Biomechanical response to acupuncture needling in humans". Journal of Applied Physiology. 91 (6): 2471–8. doi:10.1152/jappl.2001.91.6.2471. PMID 11717207. S2CID 2836231.