2010 Accomplishments
2010 has been a productive year for the Pine Street Foundation. We've published peer-reviewed research, presented papers at conferences, received lots of media coverage in the national press, and reached thousands of patients and doctors through our newsletter, Avenues.
Papers Published
Scent Identification in Criminal Investigations and Prosecutions. In this comprehensive summary of the use of canine scent lineups in the investigation of crimes, we review the proper procedures helping establish scent lineups can be valuable evidence for a jury to consider. Click here to read the full paper.
Papers Submitted
We’ve submitted for publication a landmark cancer survival study in collaboration with Kaiser Permanente, the Northern California Cancer Center, and the University of California at Berkeley. This research project encompasses a 10-year follow-up of patients with lung cancer and colon cancer, addressing the question of whether complementary and alternative medical therapy in combination with standard treatments can help extend survival. By using data about these patients gathered over a ten-year period, this study will explore the potential survival benefits associated with long-term use of an herbal-vitamin combination protocol. These two papers are now in the peer-review process.
Papers Presented
We’re presented our research results at two conferences:
- The Annie Appleseed Foundation, in Florida
- A conference for researchers in canine scent detection, in the Netherlands
Avenues Newsletter Distributed
In 2010, we physically distributed nearly 15,000 copies of our newsletter, Avenues, bringing our audience important information such as our comprehensive reviews on the benefits of vitamin D3 and uncovering some of the many issues surrounding the massive efforts directed against the swine flu outbreak. Additionally, thousands copies have been electronically downloaded from our website.
New Research Initiative Launched
We’ve launched a new research initiative, a systematic review and meta-analysis of all published randomized trials in which patients treated with Chinese herbal medicine combined with chemotherapy were compared to those treated with chemotherapy alone. Pine Street researchers will be looking for the impact of Chinese herbal medicine on both immediate results (do people using herbal medicine experience less damage to white blood cells or less drug toxicity?) and long-term results (do people using herbal medicine live longer after treatment and is their quality of life better?), as compared to treatment with chemotherapy alone. We will also be looking carefully at the quality of the published studies. Most of the studies we have located in our systematic search of the medical literature were published in China and one of our goals with this meta-analysis is to better understand the level of scientific quality of these studies; many researchers in the Western scientific community have criticized Chinese studies for their low quality of design and reporting. By analyzing these studies, we’ll determine what study quality problems are most significant and where improvement is needed. Pine Street has three primary aims in conducting this meta-analysis. First, we are using the results of this study as a basis for designing a double-blinded, randomized trial for patients with colon cancer. Second, by pointing out where improvements in study methodology are needed, we hope to contribute to the improvement in quality of clinical studies in China. Third, we want to educate readers outside of China on the vast quantity of research being conducted there, research that highlights the potential clinical benefits of integrative medical care.
A Selection of Media Clippings from 2010
Parade Magazine: Our work was prominently featured in the article "Cancer In America: Sniffing Out Disease."Huffington Post: In an op-ed in the Huffington Post, John Robbins wrote: "If you want to support an organization fighting breast cancer, you might want to know about the little known but extraordinary Pine Street Foundation."We were included in Cesar Milan's new book, Cesar's Rules: Your Way to Train a Well-Behaved Dog. Click here to read the chapter.