CONFERENCE
PRESS CENTER
Journalists are invited to attend the
Second International Congress on Tibetan Medicine on Thursday,
November 6, 2003. The following lists events which will be open to
members of the media who meet the criteria listed below.
PLENARY SESSION # 1:
FROM TRADITION TO EVIDENCE: AN OVERVIEW OF TIBETAN MEDICINE IN THE
WEST (9:00 to 10:15am)
Moderator: Woodson Merrell, MD, Executive Director, Beth Israel
Continuum Center for Health and Healing
-
Dr. Pema Dorjee, Men Tsee Khang,
India, Personal Physician of HH the Dalai Lama – Opening
Statements
-
Leslie Blackhall,
MD,
University
of Virginia School of Medicine - Tibetan Medicine, Defining a
Medical Tradition
-
Herbert Schwabl, PhD, Padma, Inc., Switzerland - From Tradition
to Evidence, the Evolution of Tibetan Medicine in the West
Break:
10:15 – 10:30 am
PLENARY SESSION # 2:
MONKS IN THE LAB - RECENT BREAKTHROUGHS IN MIND-BODY MEDICINE AND
NEUROSCIENCE RESEARCH (10:30
am – 12:15 pm)
Moderator: Nancy
J. Pearson, PhD, National Center for Complementary & Alternative
Medicine - National Institutes of Health
-
Herbert Benson, MD,
Harvard University
- Physiology and Biology of g-Tum-mo Yoga, Recent Research
-
Michael J. Baime,
MD,
University
of Pennsylvania School of Medicine -
Brain Imaging During Tibetan Buddhist Sadhana Practice -
Will the Real Vajrayogini Please Stand Up?
-
Margaret Kemeny,
PhD,
University
of California-San Francisco - Balancing the Emotions: A
Psychologist Speaks in Dialogue with Buddhism
-
Alan Wallace, PhD,
Santa Barbara
Institute for the
Interdisciplinary Study of Consciousness - A Buddhist Ideal of
Mental Health: Balancing Attention, Emotions and Cognition
-
Max Moser, PhD, Joanneum Research Institute for Noninvasive
Diagnosis and University of Graz, Austria University of Graz,
Austria - The Dancing Heart in Meditation.
Journalists wishing to cover the entire
Congress or any session not mentioned above will have to register by
following the regular registration procedure. Please visit the
Registration Information section for further
details and the
Registration
Page.
IMPORTANT PRESS NOTE:
Several presenters will be available for on-site or phone interviews.
For more information, please contact
contact@tibetmedicine.org
REGISTRATION CRITERIA:
This conference is intended primarily for health
and humanitarian professionals. Press seating is limited; we will not
be able to accommodate all the press requests we receive. Only
journalists who have a confirmed assignment will be credentialed and
priority will be given to those who write on science. Please send an
email to Aparna Sundaram:
contact@tibetmedicine.org with full contact
information, the media outlet you are representing, etc. You must also have photo ID to obtain your pass on-site.
FOR FULL MEDIA KIT:
to be sent electronically, please contact Aparna Sundaram at
contact@tibetmedicine.org
For Immediate Release
Contact: Aparna Sundaram
Media Coordinator,
Pro-Cultura
contact@tibetmedicine.org
1.917.301.6564
Pro-Cultura Announces the Second International Congress on Tibetan
Medicine, November 5-8 in Washington DC
Congress to present practical applications and working models of
integrated health care based on recent research of Tibetan medicine
and Buddhism
New York, NY – October 3, 2003 – The Second
International Congress on Tibetan Medicine (ICTM-2) will be held at
the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Washington DC from November 5-8, 2003.
The Congress will focus on Tibetan medicine, one of the oldest and
most complex medical systems in the world, and on new collaborations
between Western physicians and their Tibetan counterparts. Clinical
findings, as well as recent breakthroughs in mind-body medicine and
neuroscience research based on Tibetan health knowledge will be
highlighted. Traditional Tibetan doctors and Buddhist lamas, Bon
practitioners, Nepalese amchis, and leading Western researchers and
clinicians will discuss and demonstrate healing techniques and
traditions that have direct and practical applicability for both
medical and lay audiences.
Based on a tradition that is over one thousand years old, and the
strong meditative and compassionate practices of Buddhism, Tibetan
medicine may add and deepen our understanding of the healing process,
according to the Dalai Lama. In his message to the participants of
the Congress, the Dalai Lama states: “Science is playing an important
role in validating and recognizing age-old knowledge and practices
which were developed by many great sages and wise-people of Tibet.
Today, as we face new and growing difficult times, as well as
devastating epidemics and diseases, we must work to find new ways to
bring peace and healing to the world. I think some of these “new”
approaches might be found in old, traditional knowledge and wisdom.”
“This Congress, like the other conferences organized by Pro-Cultura,
is an opportunity for us to invite practitioners from around the world
who bring different perspectives on health and healing to Washington
D.C. Our conference, by respecting the diversity of our global
cultural heritage, offers a singular environment for developing
professional understanding and collaboration”, said Anna Souza,
founder and director of Pro-Cultura.
During intimate sessions with leading Tibetan
doctors, lamas, and allopathic scientists, participants at the
conference will be able to explore:
·
Techniques for achieving health through spirituality,
including through the cultivation of compassion & selflessness, the
use of mantras and rhythm,
·
Potential for integrative Tibetan and allopathic
research, particularly with regard to mind/body and neuroscience,
cancer, and women’s health issues
·
Recent findings on Tibetan treatments for arterial
disease, cholesterol, arthritis, irritable bowel syndrome, among
others
·
Tibetan medicine and its views regarding mental health &
depression and diet & nutrition
·
Related healing traditions including Tibetan yoga, dream
yoga, Tonglen meditation, Bon medicine
Through a unique partnership with Beth Israel Medical Center and St.
Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center, allopathic physicians will be able
to earn Continuing Medical Education Credits for up to eighteen
hours.
The conference is intended for health care and
humanitarian professionals, as well as members of the general public,
interested in learning about Tibetan medicine, meditation and
Buddhism. A number of documentaries on Tibetan medicine will be
screened, and several hands-on sessions will enable small groups of
participants to gain practical experience with key components of
Tibetan medicine.
For further information, including a background
on Tibetan medicine, the First International Congress on Tibetan
Medicine, and registration information, please visit the conference
website at
www.tibetmedicine.org/ictm2.htm
Media Advisory: Journalists are invited to attend the plenary
sessions on Thursday, November 6, 2003 at the Hyatt Regency on Capitol
Hill. For full program information please visit the conference
website at www.tibetmedicine.org/ictm2.htm. In addition,
interviews with several of the Tibetan physicians and lamas can be
arranged by contacting Ms. Aparna Sundaram at 1.917.301.6564 or
contact@tibetmedicine.org.
ABOUT PRO-CULTURA
Established in 1997, Pro-Cultura, Inc. is a non-profit organization
dedicated to facilitating understanding of traditional health systems,
resources and knowledge among the medical and scientific communities,
and within donor and humanitarian organizations. Past programs
include “Indigenous Healing Traditions of the Americas”, “From
Tradition to Modernity: Asian Therapies for Cancer”, and the “First
International Congress on Tibetan Medicine”. A conference on African
Traditional Medicine is scheduled for November 2004. For more
information visit
www.procultura.org or contact
Anna Souza, at 1.914.944.4504 or contact@tibetmedicine.org.