TCMCH Academic Dean Megan Yarberry was honored at this year’s national NADA (National Acupuncture Detoxification Association) conference for her “Visionary Leadership and Creativity”, and was presented the award by NADA founder Dr. Michael Smith.

The conference celebrated NADA’s 25^th year with the theme “Recovery, Rebirth and Reunion,” and was held in New Orleans, where NADA played an important part in the area’s post-Katrina healing.

Conference participants came from all over the world to discuss their use of the technique for treatment of addictions, as the protocol was originally designed for, as well as disaster relief, sickle cell anemia, mental health, and  post traumatic stress disorder.  A group of medical doctors from NADA Germany discussed their findings in obstetrics, first responders from Katrina described their first experiences with acupuncture and subsequent conviction in its usefulness for post-disaster settings, and Susana Mendez described a fascinating collaboration between her agency which supplies NADA, and the Texas police force, the FBI, and homeland security as they search for serial killers who prey on prostitutes plying the  trucking routes in that part of the country.

Janet, from the Philippines, described their post-flooding response, and Quang introduced his father who is holding down the NADA fort in Vietnam, where volunteers are encouraged to come and participate in various clinics.  Tomas – who provided a training to staff at The Omari Project last August (Omari is another TCMCH project) and his colleagues from Ireland talked about their experiences at public health clinics in Belfast.

At the conference, Megan met up with her colleague Beth Cole, and they began planning a trip to Haiti where they will be providing acupuncture.  They also met Julia Raneri who is the Ground Operations Manager for Acupuncturists Without Borders, Emmanuelle Mouy of NADA France, and other key persons who have been contributing toward the success of the upcoming trip.