NUHS faculty member wins award for her studies combining chiropractic medicine and public health
Friday, March 27, 2020
NUHS Faculty Dana Madigan, DC, MPH, recently received
the American Chiropractic Association's Academician of the
Year Award, which recognizes individuals for their efforts to
advance the profession through academic or educational
excellence.
In addition to teaching and conducting research at NUHS, Dr.
Madigan is months away from finishing her doctorate
in environmental and occupational health sciences at the
University of Illinois in Chicago (UIC). This doctorate follows the
coordinated MPH/DC program she was the first to complete from
UIC and NUHS in 2013. In 2012, she was also the first chiropractic
student selected for the prestigious
Albert Schweitzer Fellowship.
In the last ten years, Dr. Madigan's studies at NUHS and UIC
have combined two unique health care perspectives: chiropractic and
public health. She has worked on a long list of projects related to
manipulation, public health educational competencies in doctor of
chiropractic programs, work-related musculoskeletal concerns in
massage therapists and the attitudes of healthcare workers in the
country of Ghana toward chiropractic care.
"Her public health research, presented all over the U.S. and
abroad, has had a tremendous impact spreading the word about the
role complementary and integrative health (CIH) can play in
improving the public's health and well being," said NUHS Dean of
Research Gregory Cramer, DC, PhD.
Dr. Madigan's work also highlights the unique opportunities for
chiropractic students interested in research. When she first
started her degree at NUHS, Dr. Madigan said she wasn't aware of
all the opportunities available to chiropractic physicians in the
fields of research and public health.
"At the time, I was interested in learning more about
chiropractic which I thought could, in collaboration with other
providers, have positive impacts in communities around the world
that had limited health care resources," she said.
Over the years, Dr. Madigan's work at both UIC and NUHS has
helped deepen the partnership between the schools. It has allowed
for more conversations with those at UIC on chiropractic and
complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) professions as well as
more focus on public health within the NUHS campus
community.
"In my experience, there is curiosity related to chiropractic
and CAM as many want to know more about how we can contribute to
public health goals," Dr. Madigan said. "I'm looking forward to
staying affiliated with both NUHS and UIC and continuing the lines
of research already in motion."
