Full Name: Hugh MacPherson
Department: Health Sciences
University: University of York
Date of appointment: 1st June 2003
Present Position: Senior Research Fellow

Previous posts:

1983 – present Registered acupuncturist, York Clinic for Complementary Medicine
1986 – present Honorary Clinical Director, York Clinic for Complementary Medicine
1988 - 1997 Principal, Northern College of Acupuncture
1997 - present Honorary Research Director, Foundation for Traditional Chinese Medicine, York

Professional associations

1983 - 1995 Member of Register of Traditional Chinese Medicine
1989 - present Member of Register of Chinese Herbal Medicine
1995 - present Member of British Acupuncture Council

Non-executive appointments

1988 - 1998 Northern College of Acupuncture, Founder and Chair of Directors

1996 - 1998 British Acupuncture Accreditation Board, Board Member

1997 - 1999 British Acupuncture Council, Educational Policy Committee, Member

1998 - 2003 Honorary President, Northern College of Acupuncture

1999 - 2005 Prince of Wales’ Foundation for Integrated Health, Research Committee, Committee Member

1999 - 2003 British Acupuncture Council Executive Committee, Committee Member and Chair of Research Committee

1999 - 2003 British Acupuncture Council Research Committee, Chair of Committee

2002 Department of Health, NCCRCD Advisory Committee on Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM)

2002 - present Royal College of Physicians, Integrated Health Committee

2005 - present Society for Acupuncture Research (USA), Member of Board

2008 - present Prince of Wales’ Foundation for Integrated Health, Fellow

2008 - present Acupuncture Association of Chartered Physiotherapists, President

Qualifications:

1971 BSc (1st Hons.) Civil Engineering, Aberdeen University
(First Prize awarded by Institution of Civil Engineers)

1979 PhD Mathematics, University of New South Wales, Australia
(supported by a Commonwealth Scholarship)

Publications

(i) Books and reports

MacPherson H, Hammerschlag R, Lewith G, Schnyer R, Eds. “Acupuncture Research: Strategies for building an evidence base.” Elsevier, London, pp 261, 2007.

(ii) Recent articles in journals (2006-2009)

MacPherson H, Peters D, Zollman C. Closing the evidence gap in integrative medicine. British Medical Journal, BMJ 2009; 339: b3335.
MacPherson H, Altman DG. Improving the quality of reporting acupuncture interventions: describing the collaboration between STRICTA, CONSORT and the Chinese Cochrane Centre. Journal of Evidence-Based Medicine. 2009; 2: 1-4.
Deadman P, MacPherson H, Maxwell D, Moir F, Scheid V. Chinese medicine in the West 2009. Journal of Chinese Medicine, 2009, 50, 6-18.
Schroer S, MacPherson H, Adamson J, Designing an RCT of acupuncture for depression--identifying appropriate patient groups: a qualitative study. Family Practice 2009, doi:10.1093/fampra/cmp021.
Zollman C, MacPherson H. The challenges of interpreting and applying the evidence for CAM and Integrated Medicine. Journal of Holistic Healthcare, 2009; 6(1): 16-21.
MacPherson H, Altman DG. Improving the quality of reporting acupuncture interventions: describing the collaboration between STRICTA, CONSORT and the Chinese Cochrane Centre. Journal of Evidence-Based Medicine. 2009; 2: 1-4.
Schroer S, MacPherson H. Acupuncture, or non-directive counselling versus usual care for the treatment of depression: a pilot study. Trials 2009, 10:3

Preference Collaborative Review Group (Adamson SJ, Bland JM, Hay EM, Johnson RE, Jones GT, Kitchener H, Moffett JA, Macfarlane GJ, MacPherson H, McLean S, Nelson L, Salisbury C, Thomas E, Tilbrook HE, Torgerson DJ). Patients' preferences within randomised trials: systematic review and patient level meta-analysis. British Medical Journal. 2008 Oct 31;337:a1864. doi: 10.1136/bmj.a1864.
MacPherson H, Thomas K, Armstrong B, de Valois B, Relton C, Mullinger B, White A, Flower A, Scheid V. Developing research strategies in complementary and alternative medicine. Complementary Therapies in Medicine. 2008; 16: 359—362.
MacPherson H, Nahin R, Paterson C, Cassidy CM, Lewith GT, and Hammerschlag R, Developments in Acupuncture Research: Big-Picture Perspectives from the Leading Edge. Journal Of Alternative And Complementary Medicine, 2008: 14(7): 883–887.
Schnyer R, Lao L, Hammerschlag R, Wayne P, Langevin HM, Napadow V, Harris R, Park JB, Milley R, Cohen M, MacPherson H. Society for Acupuncture Research: 2007 Conference Report: “The Status and Future of Acupuncture Research: 10 Years Post–NIH Consensus Conference” Journal Of Alternative And Complementary Medicine, 2008 14(7): 859–860.
MacPherson H, Green G, Nevado A, Lythgoe MF, Lewith G, Devlin R, Haselfoot R, Asghar AUR. Brain imaging of acupuncture: Comparing superficial with deep needling. Neuroscience Letters, 2008 434(1): 144-149.
Bell-Syer S, Thorpe L, Thomas K, MacPherson H. Recruiting patients to trials in primary care: Lessons based on two RCTs and reports from participating GPs. Evidence Based Complementary & Alternative Medicine. 2008, doi:10.1093/ecam/nen044.
MacPherson H, Thomas K. Self-help advice as a process integral to traditional acupuncture care: implications for trial design. Complementary Therapies in Medicine. 2008; 16(2):101-6.
Reynolds JA, Bland JM, MacPherson H. Acupuncture for irritable bowel syndrome an exploratory randomised controlled trial. Acupunct Med 2008; 26(1):8-16.
Prady SL, Richmond SJ, Morton VM, MacPherson H. A Systematic Evaluation of the Impact of STRICTA and CONSORT Recommendations on Quality of Reporting for Acupuncture Trials. PLoS ONE 2008;3(2):e1577.
Hopwood V, MacPherson H. Acupuncture Research: Strategies for Clinical Evaluation: Workshop Report, York, July 5–8, 2006. Evidence Based Complement. Altern. Med. 2008; 5(2): 237-240.
Prady SL, Thomas K, Esmonde L, Crouch S, MacPherson H. The natural history of back pain after a randomised controlled trial of acupuncture vs usual care - long term outcomes. Acupunct Med. 2007; 25(4):121-9.
Prady SL, MacPherson H. Assessing the Utility of the Standards for Reporting Trials of Acupuncture (STRICTA): A Survey of Authors. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. 2007, 13(9): 939-944.
Fonnebo¸ V, Grimsgaard S, Walach H, Ritenbaugh C, Norheim AJ, MacPherson H, Lewith G, Launso¸ L, Koithan M, Falkenberg T, Boon H, Aickin M. Researching complementary and alternative treatments--the gatekeepers are not at home. BMC Med Res Methodol. 2007; 11(7):7.
MacPherson H, Dumville JC. Acupuncture as a potential treatment for non-cardiac chest pain – a survey. Acupuncture in Medicine 2007;25(1-2):18-21.
Dumville JC, MacPherson H, Griffith K, Miles JN, Lewin RJ. Non-cardiac chest pain: a retrospective cohort study of patients who attended a Rapid Access Chest Pain Clinic. Family Practice, 2007; 24(2):152-7.
MacPherson H , Schroer S. Acupuncture as a complex intervention for depression: a consensus method to develop a standardised treatment protocol for a randomised controlled trial. Complementary Therapies in Medicine 2007; 15(2): 92-100.
Boon H, MacPherson H, Fleishman S, Grimsgaard S, Koithan M, Norheim AJ, and Walach H. Evaluating complex healthcare systems: a critique of four approaches. Evidence Based Complement. Altern. Med. 2007 4: 279-285.
*MacPherson H. Acupuncture for hypertension: a tale of two trials. From the perspective of the acupuncturist. Forsch Komplement Med 2007; 14(6):371-3.
Salter GC, Roman R, Bland MJ, MacPherson H. Acupuncture for chronic neck pain: a pilot for a randomised controlled trial. BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders. 2006, 7:99

Price S, Mercer SW, MacPherson H. Practitioner empathy, patient enablement and health outcomes: a prospective study of acupuncture patients. Patient Education and Counselling. 2006, 63(1-2): 239-245.
MacPherson H, Thorpe L, Thomas K. Beyond needling – therapeutic processes in acupuncture care: a qualitative study nested with a randomised controlled trial. Journal of Alternative & Complementary Medicine, 2006, 12(9): 873-880.
MacPherson H. Acupuncture research: time to shift from theoretical to practical questions. Journal of Alternative & Complementary Medicine 2006, 12(9): 837-839.
Thomas KJ, MacPherson H, Thorpe L, et al. Randomised controlled trial of a short course of traditional acupuncture compared to usual care for persistent low back pain. British Medical Journal 2006; 333: 623-626.
Ratcliffe J, Thomas KJ, MacPherson H, Brazier J. A randomised controlled trial of acupuncture care for lower back pain: cost effectiveness analysis. British Medical Journal 2006; 333: 626-628.
MacPherson H, Asghar A. Acupuncture needle sensations associated with De Qi: a classification based on experts’ ratings. Journal of Alternative & Complementary Medicine, 2006; 12(7): 633-7.

Research Funding (2006-2009)

National Co-ordinating Centre for Research Capacity Development, National Institute for Health Research: Personal award as Post-Doctoral Fellow in Complementary and Alternative Medicine. 2003 to 2007. £396,000.
University of York Initiation & Research Priming Fund Award. Acupuncture for Irritable Bowel Syndrome. £5000. 1st April 2005 to 31st March 2007.
Medical Research Council Health Service Research Collaboration, Workshop Award Strategies for Acupuncture Research. £3000. 1st April 2006 to 31st March 2007.
Medical Research Council Health Service Research Collaboration, Research Initiation Grant. Acupuncture for osteoarthritis of the knee. £6000. 1st April 2006 to 31st March 2007.
BackCare. Natural history of low back pain after acupuncture: long-term follow-up of clinical economic and individual outcomes. £8,500. 1st April 2006 to 30th September 2006.
National Endowment Science Technology & the Arts (NESTA). Personal fellowship to explore the current and potential role for complementary medicine on the NHS. £74,316. 1st June 2006 to 31st November 2009.
National Coordinating Centre for Research Capacity Development, National Institute for Health Research, Career Scientist Award with a focus on acupuncture for chronic pain in primary care, £365,072. 1st October 2007 to 30th Sept 2012.
Research for Patient Benefit Programme, National Institute for Health Research, grant for £249,516 to evaluate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of acupuncture for irritable bowel syndrome in primary care. 1st October 2008 to 30th September 2011.
Programme Grant for Applied Research, National Institute for Health Research, grant for £1,285,301 to conduct a series of projects related to acupuncture for chronic pain and depression in primary care. 1st April 2009 to 31st March 2014.