Twelve Will Receive NFAM 2002 Founder's Awards for Excellence in Field of Complementary & Alternative Medicine

10/29/2002

From: John Daniel Begg of NFAM, 202-463-4900

News Advisory:

Congressman Berkley Bedell has announced that twelve distinguished leaders in the field of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) will receive awards at the National Foundation for Alternative Medicine (NFAM) 5th anniversary gala to be held at the Madison Hotel at Washington on Saturday November 16, at 6:30 p.m.

"These twelve NFAM Founder's Award recipients have shown great spirit, courage and tenacity in fighting for the rights of all citizens so that we all may benefit from the best available information about the best available CAM remedies. I am very proud to introduce these Award recipients to the public at our special evening on November 16th," Congressman Bedell said. "I am very proud of the work of these brave award winners who have persevered against many obstacles to bring new medical innovations to the people." Bedell has named these award winners for their distinguished service to medicine and to the nation:

Candace Campbell: Executive Director of the national advocacy organization, The American Association for Health Freedom, Ms. Campbell has lobbied aggressively for the passage of the "Access to Medical Treatment Act" and her organization functions as the foremost political voice protecting the rights of complementary and alternative healthcare practitioners.

Larry Dossey, MD: Executive Editor of the peer-reviewed journal, Alternative Therapies in Health & Medicine, Dr. Dossey is also the author of nine books on the merging of spirituality and medicine. Although deeply rooted in the scientific world, Dr. Dossey has become an internationally influential advocate of the role of the mind in health and the role of spirituality in healthcare.

Wayne Jonas, MD: As the Director of the National Center for Complementary & Alternative Medicine at the National Institutes of Health from 1995-98, Dr. Jonas created 13 major research centers and managed more than 50 research projects, helping to set the national agenda for complementary and alternative medicine in the 21st century. Dr. Jonas is currently the Director of the Samueli Institute, an international research organization reviewing the biology of healing and its relationship to health and disease.

Diane Ladd: Actress, director, producer, three-time Academy Award nominee and winner of the British Academy Award, Ms. Ladd is also a passionate public advocate for complementary & alternative medicine and has testified before Congress. She is a certified nutritional counselor and has authored a nutritional health book, Spiraling Through the School of Life.

Ralph Moss, PhD: Dr. Moss is an internationally acclaimed and respected science writer and patient advocate who has spent 20 plus years and has made it his life's work to investigate and travel the world in search of valid alternative cancer treatments. He is the author of 11 books and 3 documentaries on cancer-related topics and is the director of The Moss Reports for cancer patients.

James Oschman, PhD: International authority and author of 2 books on energy medicine, Dr. Oschman, a former academic cell biologist, has also published over 60 research articles. His goal is to bridge the intellectual barriers between different approaches to clinical medicine so that new discoveries can be made to enhance patient care.

Linda Peeno, MD: Dr. Peeno is a former HMO medical reviewer and hospital ethics committee chair who became a moral objector and courageously brought managed care abuses to light. She is the nation's leading expert on the operational and ethical problems of American corporate healthcare. In the television movie made about her experiences, actress Laura Dern portrayed her.

Candace Pert, PhD and Michael Ruff, PhD: A groundbreaking neuroscientist and research professor, Dr. Pert is credited with the discovery of the opiate receptor and is the author of the best-selling book, Molecules of Emotion: Why You Feel the Way You Feel. She and Dr. Ruff, her research partner and husband, are pioneers in the field of emotions and healing and the interconnectedness of the brain and the nervous, endocrine and immune systems. They are senior researchers at the Georgetown University School of Medicine.

Joseph Pizzorno, Jr. ND: Dr. Pizzorno is the President Emeritus and co-founder in 1978 of Bastyr University, the nation's leading academic center in the natural health sciences. He is the author of three books on the healing traditions of natural medicine and a physician, researcher, lecturer, journal editor and educator with over 25 years of experience in the field of natural health.

Bernie Siegel, MD: Internationally known inspirational speaker and former surgeon, Dr. Siegel is the author of 8 books, including Love, Medicine & Miracles. In 1978 he started Exceptional Cancer Patients, an organization that focuses on the healing potential present in every patient. Dr. Siegel is very involved in humanizing medical education and making the medical profession aware of the mind-body connection in healing.

Susan Silberstein, PhD: Founder and Executive Director of The Center for Advancement in Cancer Education, Dr. Silberstein established this non-profit patient advisory and referral service in 1977, following her young husband's death from cancer. She and the staff of volunteers she has trained have counseled over 20,000 patients in the ensuing 25 years without ever charging a fee.

Demetrio Sodi-Pallares, MD: An internationally recognized cardiologist, Dr. Sodi-Pallares is also a cancer researcher and author of 16 books and 300 scientific papers and has been awarded over 100 honorary degrees. He achieved international fame by demonstrating dramatic results with cardiovascular diseases and advanced cancers, and he currently collaborates with approximately 100 physicians in Central and South America.

The National Foundation for Alternative Medicine (NFAM) represents the fruition of a movement led by former Iowa Congressman Berkley Bedell and other Americans interested in complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). These men and women are concerned about the average citizen's inability to get reliable information and access to effective, holistic, medical care in the face of life-threatening disease. NFAM works to publicize information about medical treatments that are life saving, the protocols of which are as effective or better than conventional medical procedures.

The mission of NFAM is to seek out effective CAM treatments not easily accessible or currently unavailable in the United States, evaluate the protocols and outcomes of these treatments and report the findings to the general public. The first focus of NFAM has been on cancer, but we have begun initial site visits to clinics that treat other degenerative diseases. NFAM is the only entity in the United States that actively reviews international clinics treating such degenerative diseases. In addition to this unique investigative role, NFAM makes the vital information that results from these investigations readily available to the American public, free of any charge.