Features Practice Technique
Daniel C. Cherkin, PhD Awarded the Ashley Montagu Award

May 12, Seattle,
WA –  Daniel C. Cherkin, PhD, has been awarded the 2010
Ashley Montagu Award for his exceptional contribution to enhancing global awareness
of touch therapy.  Dr. Cherkin’s work has
demonstrated the efficacy of massage therapy in back pain research and continues
to conduct prevention research. 

The
Ashley Montagu award is bestowed every other year by the Canadian Touch Research
Centre.  The award recognizes devotion to
bringing principles of touch therapies into public recognition on a global scale.
 The Research Center’s
director, Dr. Real Gaboriault, notes that this year’s recipient, “…is a source of
inspiration in the massage therapy research field, and his research highlights the
importance of touch in our world.”  

Dr. Cherkin is a
senior investigator at the Group Health Research Institute located in Seattle Washington.  His approach is aimed at creating a transformation in the
paradigm for health care delivery.  Centered
around the question, "What paths to healing are absent from the typical
primary care encounter?”, Dr. Cherkin’s work is dedicated to engaging patients
in healing activities by guiding them to understand their underlying needs, and
then creating a treatment strategy that is based on meeting those needs. He is especially
interested in improving treatment for chronic conditions and is best known for
his research regarding alternative therapies for back pain. Cherkin often
collaborates with other investigators to study therapies such as yoga,
acupuncture and tai chi. 

But Dr. Cherkin’s main goal
is focused on finding ways to create an optimal healing environment in primary
care, which also involves creating a supportive work environment to meet the
needs of primary care providers. To this end, he is currently leading a study
aimed at enhancing awareness, communication, and team building amongst primary
care staff as a way to foster a culture of mindful, patient-centered care. 

Dr.
Cherkin was a keynote presenter at the 2010 Highlighting Massage Therapy in CIM Research
Conference in Seattle
Washington from May 13-15.