Our 2012 Accomplishments

It’s been another fantastic year at the Pine Street Foundation…we’ve published peer-reviewed research, presented papers at conferences, received lots of media coverage in the national press, hosted community events, and made huge strides with all our other ongoing research projects. Here are some of the highlights:Colon Cancer and ChemotherapyWe have been awarded a $70,243 one-year research grant from the prestigious Institute of East-West Medicine of New York to conduct a meta-analysis in which we will systematically identify all published randomized trials that provided patients who have colon cancer with Chinese herbs in combination with their chemotherapy. We 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. Click here to learn more. Canine Scent Detection of CancerWe have been awarded a $100,000 two-year research grant from the prestigious Robmar Foundation to provide mentorship for other researchers and dog trainers working to train dogs in scent detection. We will expand our work in developing the Human-Dog bond, building on our prior work with ovarian cancer,  to also include lung cancer,  breast cancer,  and prevention of bladder cancer caused by chonically acute bladder infections in paraplegics. This establishes an important scientific requirement facing the field of canine scent detection in human health: replication of prior work by different groups working with different populations of patients. Click here to learn more.Publication and Follow-up Presentations: Our Lung and Colon Cancer Survival StudiesFollowing official publication in December 2011, we spent 2012 presenting our work to clinicians and researchers across the country. These studies represented the results of ten years of treatment and follow-up for patients with lung and colon cancers and were the first to apply modern statistical analysis techniques to the analysis of data from patients treated with Chinese medicine for lung or colon cancer. We believe these papers will help set a new standard for rigorous analysis of data from non-randomized trials. Click here for more.Clinical Advocacy for Patients with Cancer:In collaboration with the Commonweal Retreat Center, we participated in a workshop and public presentation on the ways in which clinical advocates help people with cancer. Included in our presentations was a discussion of the past, present, and future of clinical advocacy, Pine Street's approach to Chinese Medicine-based integrative care, and how to work with patients who are reluctant or are refusing conventional care. Click here for more.How You Can HelpWhether you've known us since 1989 or have only recently discovered our work, it is important to note that the Pine Street Foundation is one of the most efficient and cost-effective research organizations of its kind in the country. And since the vast majority of all our funding comes from individual donors like you, your financial support truly helps us advance the field of integrative medicine and beenfits those in need of better treatments.As you consider your year-end charitable giving, please keep the Pine Street Foundation in mind. Click here to make a donation now.