NCCAM Awards Stimulus Funding to Palmer Center for Chiropractic Research for Low Back Pain Study Focusing on Muscle Function

The National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), has awarded a supplemental grant to the Palmer Center for Chiropractic Research (PCCR) for its clinical study on the relationship between back pain and possible abnormal function of the supportive muscles in the back. The PCCR is located on the campus of Palmer College of Chiropractic in Davenport, Iowa.

Totaling $578,853, the grant was awarded to Palmer by NCCAM through its funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, otherwise known as federal stimulus funds. The money will create at least five new jobs at the PCCR's research clinic facility on the Palmer College of Chiropractic campus in Davenport, Iowa.

This latest award will assist the PCCR in its efforts to improve the care provided to patients with low back pain through clinical research. "We are pleased to be able to bring federal stimulus dollars into the Quad-City area, especially since these funds will allow us to create new jobs while also building our research infrastructure," said Palmer's Vice Chancellor for Research and Health Policy Christine Goertz, D.C. Ph.D. "We are now able to accelerate the progress of our clinical studies by recruiting patients more quickly."

The Palmer Center for Chiropractic Research is the largest institutional chiropractic research effort in the world, supplemented increasingly by federal grant funding. These funds, totaling nearly $30 million in the past 10 years, have been instrumental in expanding PCCR programs in research education, clinical science, translational research, experimental biomechanics, neurosciences, and health services and policy research.