“I’m just simply amazed at what a great year has been for the Australian Spinal Research Foundation. This past year, The Foundation has hit goal after goal and raised the standard of service to our members,” said ASRF board President, Dr. Ryan Seaman as he took some time to chat with the blog team about the year in review.
Of course, with Dr Ryan as with ASRF, it all starts with subluxation. “As a foundation, we first and foremost want an understanding of the vertebral subluxation. Secondly, we want to disseminate this information to you our members and to the general public.
“To achieve these goals in the past 12 months, we funded five major research projects from the 2022 grants program round. I cannot wait to see the published papers and data that come from these. If you want more information on these, please look to the research page on our website,” said Dr. Ryan. Included alongside the five major research projects in 2022, ASRF also continued its case report project, and when the latest intake is published, we will have reached a milestone of 70 case reports published or submitted.
What does this mean for chiropractors and for the broader cause of subluxation-based research? “Case studies are an integral part of scientific research,” says Dr Ryan, “as they provide an understanding of possibilities at an individual level and can offer up a foundation for larger research projects and RCTs [randomised controlled trials].”
“At the last board meeting, we as a board had the pleasure of funding four more research projects in 2023. These I find extremely exciting. There is work in paediatrics coming. There is work with psycho-neural immunology. We have funded a study looking at patient perspectives to increase the body of research on the patient-centred approach to care. We also funded a study using artificial intelligence technology to be able to predict the relationship between the level and severity of vertebral subluxations and stress.” These studies will provide groundbreaking insights not only into vertebral subluxation, neurology and immunology but into emerging technology as well.
This year also saw several in-person events – a welcome change after the felt impact of social isolation during COVID-19. These events were packed with science and philosophy but also gave chiropractors an opportunity to develop and enhance professional connections and be inspired by each other. “In the past year, we’ve held several events — one in Brisbane, one in Melbourne and one in Perth. For those of you who attended, I’m sure you grabbed great value at each event. Because I know I sure did,” said Dr. Ryan. During our events this year, we were able to award the second annual ‘ASRF John Hinwood Research Award’ to our recent past-President Dr Craig Foote, for his outstanding contributions to the ASRF and chiropractic research.
For those of you who missed it, don’t worry; we have more amazing events coming your way in 2024. Stay tuned and look for the save your date email.
In addition to research and events, we’ve also been launching new ways to consume chiropractic information and to pass it on to your practice members. “One of our greatest achievements of last year was the launch of the ASRF podcast. This is such a great way to keep yourself abreast of the research on intervertebral subluxation. It’s available on all major podcast platforms. You can listen to it while driving, through your headphones while exercising or simply play it in your practice for you, your staff and your clientele,” says Dr. Ryan.
“I would also like to take time to thank you — our members and donors, our commercial supporters, our event sponsors, the researchers performing our wonderful research, and my staff and board members for making this role easier and our foundation so much more productive.
Have an amazing, safe, and happy holiday season. We will see you in the new year.”
And what a year it’s promising to be! But we will tell you more about that as it emerges.
