The George P. and Jerome F. McAndrews Memorial Research Fund Award was created by the NCMIC Foundation to honor the McAndrews brothers’ longtime support of the scientific and practical advancement of the study of chiropractic. It provides an award to a worthy research recipient who has demonstrated exceptional ability to:
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Dr. Stephanie Sullivan, DC
2023 McAndrews Award Recipient
The NCMIC Foundation announced Stephanie Sullivan as a 2023 recipient of the Jerome F. McAndrews, DC, Memorial Research Fund Award.
Dr. Stephanie Sullivan, DC, serves as the director of the Life University Dr. Sid E. Williams Center for Chiropractic Research (CCR). Her responsibilities include mission driven leadership and advancement of the CCR, research compliance, and the conduct of chiropractic research. Utilizing her background in banking, marketing, and management Dr. Sullivan has worked to increase the number of research projects conducted at Life University as well as raise the rigor of studies to include high-impact clinical trials.
Dr. Sullivan is also a neuroscience Ph.D. graduate of the Biomedical and Health Sciences Institute at the University of Georgia. Her research focus includes development of the Well-being and Health Expression Evaluation List (WHEEL), sensory gating, cognitive efficiency and the effect of chiropractic and applied clinical neuroscience care on brain-body neuroplasticity.
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Dr. Scott Haldeman, DC, MD, PhD, FRCP(C), FCCS(C), FAAN
2023 McAndrews Award Recipient
The NCMIC Foundation announced Scott Haldeman is a 2023 recipient of the Jerome F. McAndrews, DC, Memorial Research Fund Pioneer Award.
Dr. Scott Haldeman, DC, MD, PhD, FRCP(C), FCCS(C), FAAN, is clinical professor in the Department of Neurology, University of California, Irvine, and visiting professor at Southern California University of Health Sciences.
Dr. Haldeman is the founder and president of World Spine Care, a non-profit organization endorsed by the Decade of the Bone and Joint, an initiative of the WHO, helping people in underserved regions of the world who suffer from spinal disorders. He is past president of the North American Spine Society, the American Back Society, and the North American Academy of Manipulative Therapy. He served on the executive council of the International Society for the Study of the Lumbar Spine and was appointed International Ambassador for the Decade of the Bone and Joint. He currently chairs the Global Spine Care Initiative to develop evidence-informed, practical, and sustainable, spine health care models for communities around the world.
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Dr. Gert Bronfort, DC, PhD
2023 McAndrews Award Recipient
The NCMIC Foundation announced Gert Bronfort is a 2023 recipient of the Jerome F. McAndrews, DC, Memorial Research Fund Pioneer Award.
Dr. Gert Bronfort, DC, PhD, is a professor in the Integrative Health and Wellbeing Research Program at the University of Minnesota’s Earl E. Bakken Center for Spirituality & Healing. Dr. Bronfort has been a leader in research investigating conservative and integrative care for disabling and costly musculoskeletal pain conditions and has formed numerous regional, national and international partnerships to conduct innovative, high- impact, patient-oriented research. He has lead numerous federally-funded randomized clinical trials investigating manual therapies, exercise and self-care and has authored several high- profile systematic reviews. Dr. Bronfort is a longstanding and active member of the Cochrane Collaboration’s Low Back Pain Editorial Group as well as the Cervical Overview Group. He has served on several national and international committees including the advisory council for the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, the World Health Organization and the US Health Resources and Services Administration’s Advisory Committee on Interdisciplinary, Community-Based Linkages.
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Dr. Roni Evans, DC, MS, PhD
2023 McAndrews Award Recipient
The NCMIC Foundation announced Roni Evans is a 2023 recipient of the Jerome F. McAndrews, DC, Memorial Research Fund Pioneer Award.
Dr. Evans is a clinical research scientist whose work has been largely in the area of comparative effectiveness research, investigating non-drug approaches for individuals struggling with musculoskeletal pain, including manual therapies, exercise, self-management and other complementary and integrative approaches. She has been an investigator of several randomized clinical trials funded by the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) and the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration. Her current research focuses on facilitating health and wellbeing behaviors, including physical activity and pain self-management with an emphasis on engaging populations typically underrepresented in complementary and integrative health research.
She is currently the principal investigator of a NCCIH funded community-based study examining a behavioral based mindfulness intervention for mid- to- older age adults, and is also the co-investigator responsible for the design and development of integrated supported self-management approach in the PACBACK trial, one of the largest clinical studies of acute low back pain to date. Dr. Evans is also an active mentor for pre-doctoral and post-doctoral students interested in pursuing a research career in complementary and integrative therapies, pain management and healthy behaviors. She currently serves on the National Advisory Council for Complementary and Integrative Health.
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Past recipients of the McAndrews’ Award:
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Paul Shekelle, M.D., Ph.D.
2022 McAndrews Award Recipient
The NCMIC Foundation announced Paul Shekelle as the 2022 recipient of the Jerome F. McAndrews, DC, Pioneer Award.
In 2002, Dr. Paul Shekelle was appointed to the newly formed Chiropractic Advisory Committee that would advise the Secretary of Veterans Affairs on chiropractic health programs for veterans. Since that time, Dr. Shekelle has been instrumental in helping to shepherd chiropractic into the VA’s system and build acceptance within its walls.
Paul Shekelle is a physician policy researcher at the RAND Corporation. He is a staff physician at the West Los Angeles Veterans Affairs Medical Center and a professor of medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Medicine. From 1997 to 2018 he served as codirector of the Southern California Evidence-based Practice Center (EPC). He is widely recognized in the field of guidelines, quality measurement, and evidence-based medicine. He is a past chair of the Clinical Guidelines Committee of the American College of Physicians (ACP). Dr. Shekelle earned his M.D. from Duke University and his Ph.D. from UCLA.
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Christine Goertz, D.C., Ph.D.
2020 McAndrews Award Recipient
The NCMIC Foundation announced Christine Goetz is the 2020 recipient of the Jerome F. McAndrews, DC, Memorial Research Fund Pioneer Award.
Christine Goertz, D.C., Ph.D., is a professor of musculoskeletal research at the Duke Clinical Research Institute and Director of System Development and Coordination for Spine Health in the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at Duke University. She is also the CEO of the Spine Institute for Quality and an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Epidemiology, College of Public Health at the University of Iowa. Previously she was Vice Chancellor of Research at Palmer College of Chiropractic.
Her 30-year research career has focused on working with multi-disciplinary teams to design and implement clinical and health services research studies designed to increase knowledge regarding the effectiveness and cost of patient-centered, non-pharmacological treatments for spine-related disorders.
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Cynthia English
2019 McAndrews Award Recipient
The NCMIC Foundation announced Cynthia English is the 2019 recipient of the Jerome F. McAndrews, DC, Memorial Research Fund Award. The presentation of the award was made on March 15, 2019, at the Association of Chiropractic Colleges Educational Conference and Research Agenda Conference (ACC-RAC).
Ms. English was part of the three-year Gallup organization study, 2018 Gallup-Palmer College of Chiropractic Annual Report: Managing Neck and Back Pain in America. As a result of Ms. English’s involvement, the chiropractic profession was able to glean meaningful data about consumers’ perceptions of chiropractic care.
The report highlighted the extent that neck and back pain affect American adults. Nearly two-thirds (65%) of consumers reported seeing a healthcare professional for significant neck or back pain at some point in their lives. The report also detailed Americans’ preferences for neck and back pain care providers and the prevalence of various treatments. According to the report, roughly one-fourth of U.S. adults said they saw a chiropractor within the past five years.
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Brent David Leininger, D.C., M.S.
2018 McAndrews Award Recipient
Dr. Leininger is an assistant professor at the University of Minnesota within the Integrative Health & Wellbeing Research Program at the Earl E. Bakken Center for Spirituality & Healing. He is a co-investigator for the large, NIH-funded clinical trial on Spinal Manipulation and Patient Self-Management to Prevent Back Pain Chronicity – PACBACK study, which will enroll approximately 1,200 participants.
Improving pain management with nondrug treatments that can prevent chronic low back pain is a critical public health priority. Research like this one helps identify how prevention can help overcome the problems and costs—including those related to opioid misuse—associated with chronic low back pain.
William B. Weeks, M.D., Ph.D., M.B.A.
2016 McAndrews Award Recipient
The 2016 recipient was William B. Weeks, M.D., Ph.D., M.B.A. Dr. Weeks was selected for this award for his research on measuring quality, cost and value in chiropractic care. Dr. Weeks is a Professor of Psychiatry and Community and Family Medicine at Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth where he works at The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice as a senior research scientist.
North Carolina Employee Health Plan Research Study Group
2015 McAndrews Award Recipient
The 2015 recipient was the North Carolina Employee Health Plan Research Study Group, led by Shawn Phelan, D.C., and consisting of Richard C. Armstrong, M.S., D.C.; Eric L. Hurwitz, D.C., Ph.D.; Eugene A. Lewis, D.C.; M.P.H., Reed B. Phillips, Ph.D.; D.C., Michael J. Schneider, Ph.D., D.C.; and Joel M. Stevans, D.C. The group was recognized for working on several research projects that aim to better understand the costs for chiropractic care.
The findings of the studies showed significantly lower costs of care for complicated and uncomplicated neck pain, low back pain and headache. There was a net increase in chiropractic utilization and a decrease in charges to the state health plan for these conditions during the period of copay equity. There was a significant decrease in chiropractic utilization and significant increase in the magnitude of millions of dollars for these conditions with the repeal of copay equity in 2007.
Robert Mootz, D.C.
2014 McAndrews Award Recipient
The 2014 recipient was Robert Mootz, D.C., who was recognized for his drive to educate, elevate and influence others, specifically the public, healthcare providers and policymakers. Dr. Mootz currently serves as the Associate Medical Director for Chiropractic at the Department of Labor and Industries for the state of Washington. Examples of his work include:
- Co-investigator on Washington State’s “Occupational Health Services Project”
- Agency lead for “Occupational Health Conservative Care Best Practices Resources”
- Project lead for numerous evidence-based health policy, guidelines and coverage decision efforts
These efforts have a system-wide impact on improving healthcare to injured workers, providing an evidence-based approach to healthcare and developing a level playing field for all healthcare providers, including Doctors of Chiropractic.
James Whedon, D.C., M.S.
2013 McAndrews Award Recipient
The 2013 recipient was James Whedon, D.C., M.S., who was selected for this award for his timely and applicable research that will advance the health of the U.S. public. Dr. Whedon's research investigates longitudinal trends and geographic variations in chiropractic availability, utilization and cost for adults over 65, which will be especially applicable as the percentage of the population covered by Medicare increases. His research also evaluates the safety of chiropractic care and risks of complications associated with chiropractic care of older adults.
Dr. Whedon has published numerous articles in PubMed-indexed journals, collaborated with other researchers on these studies and presented his work at national research conferences, including ACC-RAC, the Annual Meeting of the American Public Health Association and the International Research Congress on Integrative Medicine and Health. The results of his research can be applied to day-to-day practice and may be generalizable to the older U.S. adult population. Thus, the results can inform national healthcare policy and future research on a broad level.
Pierre Côté, D.C.
2011 McAndrews Award Recipient
The 2011 recipient was Pierre Côté, D.C., who was recognized for his distinguished track record to advance science, and has many research collaborations and high ethical standards.
Dr. Côté’s studies include whiplash, manipulation and stroke; worker injuries; and low back and neck pain. Dr. Côté’s research is internationally known and crosses many disciplines. He has published more than 100 articles in peer-reviewed journals.
Dr. Côté was intimately involved with the Bone and Joint Decade 2000–2010 Task Force on Neck pain and its Associated Disorders, which has made a tremendous impact on the chiropractic profession.
Deborah Kopansky-Giles, D.C.
2010 McAndrews Award Recipient
The 2010 recipient was Deborah Kopansky-Giles, D.C., who was recognized for her efforts to advance chiropractic research, including bridging the gap between the chiropractic profession and traditional medical organizations. Her scientific studies help others understand how chiropractic benefits the healthcare system, especially in providing care to the underserved.
Sidney Rubinstein, D.C., Ph.D.
2009 McAndrews Award Recipient
The 2009 recipient was Sidney Rubinstein, D.C., Ph.D., a Los Angeles College of Chiropractic graduate. Dr. Rubinstein was selected for his long-standing efforts to advance chiropractic research. Specifically, he was cited for contributing to practical applications for chiropractic practice, maintaining high ethical standards and working collaboratively with professional interdisciplinary teams to enhance better understanding of patient treatments.
Currently, Dr. Rubinstein is working as a post-doc at the Vrije University Medical Center, Amsterdam. His area of interest is predictors of outcome with chiropractic care, specifically the role of psychosocial factors. He is also a member of the Cochrane Back Review Group and is working on a series of systematic reviews to evaluate the efficacy of spinal manipulative therapy for chronic low-back pain.
Simon Dagenais, D.C., Ph.D., M.Sc.
2008 McAndrews Award Recipient
The 2008 recipient was Simon Dagenais, D.C., Ph.D., M.Sc., a graduate of Southern California University of Health Sciences. Simon was selected for his research, publications, and knowledge disseminations efforts on evidence-based management of low back pain, which culminated in co-editing a well-received special focus issue of The Spine Journal on this topic in 2008.
In addition to being trained as a chiropractor, Simon is also trained as an epidemiologist and health economist. He is currently Senior Director in Health Outcomes and Value Assessment at Pacira Pharmaceuticals, where he supports studies examining the value of EXPAREL®, a novel non-opioid analgesic injected at the surgical site to manage postsurgical pain.
Prior to joining Pacira in 2013, Simon was the Chief Scientific Officer for Palladian Health, a specialty health company that manages musculoskeletal health benefits on behalf of health plans. Before that, Simon was a research scientist at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute and an assistant professor in epidemiology and orthopaedic surgery at the University of Ottawa.