The Council is the principal advisory group to NCCAM, a component of the National Institutes of Health. The Council's purpose is to provide recommendations on the conduct and support of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) research at the NIH – including research training and information dissemination efforts derived from NCCAM's research.

Dr. Collins, from McLean, Va., graduated magna cum laude from Life University and is a subluxation-based doctor who enjoys educating the public about the role of chiropractic in health and wellness, and about the benefits of chiropractic for children.

The other new members are:

Zang-Hee Cho, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Radiological Sciences, Psychiatry and Human Behavior, and Ophthalmology, University of California at Irvine;

Murray Goldstein, D.O., M.P.H, Medical Director, United Cerebral Palsy Research and Educational Foundation in Washington, D.C.;

Michael R. Irwin, M.D., Professor and Director, Norman Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Neuropsychiatric Institute in Los Angeles;

Barbara Timmermann, Ph.D., Regents Professor, Department of Pharmacology/Toxicology, College of Pharmacy at the University of Arizona; and

Benjamin Chi-Kuo Yang, C.A., O.M.D., Commissioner and Member, State of California Industrial Medical Council in San Francisco.

The National Advisory Council on Complementary and Alternative Medicine meets three times a year. All meetings are announced in the Federal Register. With the addition of these six new members, the Council is now comprised of 18 members. The only other chiropractic member is William C. Meeker, D.C., M.P.H., Director of Research, Palmer Center for Chiropractic Research and the Palmer Chiropractic University Foundation.