Bethesda, Maryland—On July 18, the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) will launch a new lecture series highlighting key issues regarding complementary and alternative medical practices, an approach millions of Americans are exploring to satisfy their personal health needs.

NCCAM`s “Distinguished Lectures in the Science of Complementary and Alternative Medicine” will feature Harvard University history professor Charles E. Rosenberg, Ph.D., considered to be the nation`s preeminent medical historian.
Rosenberg`s presentation, “Alternative to What? Complementary to Whom? On Some Aspects of Medicine`s Scientific Identity,” will provide a historical context of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) and examine the evolution of medicine. Rosenberg is best known for his work Cholera Years: The United States in 1832, 1849, and 1866 and has written extensively on the history or medicine and science. He has also authored No Other Gods: On Science and American Social Thought, The Care of Strangers: The Rise of America`s Hospital System and Explaining Epidemics.
The lecture will take place on Thursday, July 18, at 3:00 p.m. in Masur Auditorium of the Clinical Center (Building 10) on the NIH campus in Bethesda, Maryland. The event is free and open to the public, and will be videocast live at videocast.nih.gov.
As more Americans turn to CAM treatments, the demand for research to uncover whether these methods are safe and effective has increased. Through this new lecture series, NCCAM hopes to provide multiple perspectives on the history, research, and practice on the subject of CAM, shedding new light on this growing field of scientific interest. Distinguished Lectures in Complementary and Alternative Medicine will be offered two times a year at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD.
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