CAM evaluation comes into the mainstream: NIH specialized Centers of research and the University of Maryland Center for Alternative Medicine Research in Arthritis.

In September of 1999 the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced the funding of five Specialized Centers of Research in complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), bringing the total number of centers being supported to nine. The NIH center grant model provides a tremendous boost to the scientific investigation of CAM, nurturing an emerging field through the support of a step-wise research program of clinical and pre-clinical trials and developmental and feasibility studies; the building of infrastructure; and the training of a new cadre of scientific investigators in the field. This article explains the overall objectives of the NIH Specialized Centers program and focuses on one of the oldest CAM research centers in the USA, exploring some of the challenges faced in conducting CAM research while developing a center, and some of the goals and activities of the center.