Christie Kwon DC, MS was recently awarded an Advancing Futures Research Scholarship by the Foundation for Vertebral Subluxation (FVS) to complete her Master’s in Public Health at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. 

Dr. Kwon, who is a chiropractor and also holds a Master’s Degree in Biomedical Engineering, stated "Emory's focus on health promotion and prevention fits perfectly with the Foundation's research agenda.  I look forward to obtaining additional skills to more effectively study the nature of subluxation and its role in health and well-being, and I am incredibly grateful for this opportunity to do so." 

Dr. Kwon recently participated in a Functional MRI Visiting Fellowship earlier this year which had already resulted in a flurry of activity and excitement at the FVS because of the potential this holds for subluxation research. In addition to her other work overseeing the FVS’s Practice Based Research Network (PBRN) and several studies that fall under it, Dr. Kwon has developed a keen interest in advanced imaging and its role as an objective assessment of vertebral subluxation.  

Remarking on the awarding of the Advancing Futures Scholarship, Dr. Christopher Kent DC, JD President of the FVS, and Professor and Director of Evidence Informed Practice at Sherman College of Chiropractic stated: “Christie Kwon is an underappreciated polymath. Her commitment to chiropractic is steadfast. This scholarship will enable Dr. Kwon to be even more effective in securing the future of chiropractic research.” 

With over 100 projects either completed or in the works, the FVS has been hard at work addressing research on the vertebral subluxation along with policy and education issues affecting the profession. In addition to actually conducting research the FVS also supports a team of researchers through its scholarship program with nine Fellowships having been granted. The FVS, through its Advancing Futures program, seeks to provide scholarships to individuals who assist in carrying out the Research Agenda of the organization. 

Advancing Futures is our best hope at accomplishing a collaborative, organized movement to research subluxation. The FVS' research agenda seeks to validate the profession and position chiropractic as a vitalistic, scientific, evidence informed clinical practice. The more research, the greater the chance the profession will have of gaining a higher degree of respect, understanding and acceptance in the health care marketplace, the scientific community and among the patients it serves. It is imperative to make these new research advancements available to the public, other health professions, and to legislators in order to promote and to systematically advance the field of subluxation centered chiropractic through the initiation of favorable public health policy. 

We are at a crossroads in chiropractic. A time where we may lose our identity or forge forward with chiropractic leading the new paradigm of health and well-being. As practitioners, we see the evidence of chiropractic adjustments every day in our practices. To us, it is undeniable. But in terms of substantiating ourselves with the value and recognition we deserve, we are in dire need of this Research Agenda to gain our rightful position: leaders in the location, analysis and correction of vertebral subluxation. 

There are so many things one could focus on. The question is what should the focus be? The FVS believes the focus should be on the role of vertebral subluxation and the result of its correction/reduction on health. Through basic and clinical science research, advocating for favorable policy, revising educational standards and service the FVS seeks to place vertebral subluxation at the forefront. 

Vice President of the FVS, Matthew McCoy DC, MPH commented on the awarding of the scholarship to Dr. Kwon stating “I could not be more excited that Dr. Kwon was awarded this scholarship and for the crucial work of the Foundation that she will be addressing. Dr. Kwon epitomizes everything we need to secure a future for chiropractic researchers who focus on the vertebral subluxation without the compromise so many others have given in to.” 

Dr. Kwon anticipates that the program will create tremendous opportunities for knowledge and the building of new, professional relationships for exploring subluxation research. 

For more information about the Foundation for Vertebral Subluxation and its Research Agenda contact us:

Matthew McCoy DC, MPH
Vice President
vertebralsubluxation@gmail.com
Foundation for Vertebral Subluxation
http://www.vertebralsubluxation.org 

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