Researcher of the Year Awarded to Christie Kwon During Sherman's 2023 IRAPS

Christie Kwon DC, MS, MPH was presented the 2023 Researcher of the Year Award Saturday, May 6 2023 by the Foundation for Vertebral Subluxation (FVS) during the International Research and Philosophy Symposium (IRAPS) being held during Sherman College's 50th Anniversary Lyceum.

According to Matthew McCoy DC, MPH Vice President of the FVS "Dr. Kwon, her service and related accomplishments are exactly why the Foundation exists and we are grateful for everything she has done over the past decade."

Dr. Christopher Kent DC, JD President of the FVS, and Professor and Director of Scholarly Activity at Sherman College of Chiropractic stated: “Christie Kwon is an underappreciated polymath. Her commitment to chiropractic is steadfast. Her work over the past decade has helped secure the future of chiropractic research on vertebral subluxation.”

The event was particularly emotional since it was an IRAPS conference in 2009 when Dr. Kwon first presented at the Sherman event which features research and philosophical presentations focused on vertebral subluxation. There is no other event like it in the profession.

Kwon was a student at Life University at the time and enrolled in the Research Track there. Kwon eventually joined the Foundation as its Executive Director and served in that capacity for several years until she joined the Board of Directors.

She went on to receive two Fellowships from the Foundation. One to participate in a Functional MRI Visiting Fellowship which resulted in a flurry of activity and excitement at the FVS because of the potential this holds for subluxation research.

Dr. Kwon along with Dr. Christopher Kent and Dr. Matthew McCoy subsequently developed a document titled: An Advanced Imaging Research Agenda for the Evaluation of Vertebral Subluxation and Clinical Outcomes Related to its Management.

CLICK HERE for more on that

Kwon then received an Advancing Futures Research Scholarship by the Foundation for Vertebral Subluxation to complete her Master’s in Public Health at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia.

CLICK HERE for that story

Dr. Kwon is the lead author and investigator on a recently completed study to estimate the prevalence of vertebral subluxation in the population and to explore the public health implications of subluxation using a sample of individuals presenting for chiropractic care.

The study, titled: Secondary Analysis of a Dataset to Estimate the Prevalence of Vertebral Subluxation and its Implications for Health Promotion and Prevention, analyzed a total of 1,851 patient records from 7 chiropractic clinics in 4 states.

The study found that the overall prevalence of vertebral subluxation was 79%.

Kwon was joined by her co-authors on the project - Jose Binongo Ph.D from the Department of Biostatistics at Emory University's Rollins School of Public Health and Matthew McCoy DC, MPH, Vice President of the Foundation for Vertebral Subluxation.

Kwon received a full tuition scholarship from the Foundation for Vertebral Subluxation to attend Emory University’s School of Public Health and conduct the research as part of her requirements for graduation.

Kwon continues to serve on the Foundation's Board and now oversees the Research Track at Life University where she got her start and mentors young chiropractic students interested in research.

McCoy added "We started the Advancing Futures program at the Foundation because we recognized that the subluxation focused faction of chiropractic does not create opportunities for young chiropractors with an interest in subluxation research to follow those dreams. This is one of the reasons why we have the problems we do when it comes to subluxation research."

The Foundation's Advancing Futures Scholarship program has given dozens of scholarships to students wanting to pursue and participate in research on subluxation.

Sherman College is home to many of those students who have received Fellowships to work on the Foundation's Best Practices Initiative which is housed at Sherman and is under the direction of Anquonette Stiles DC, MPH who herself is a Fellow with the Foundation.

CLICK HERE for more on that

The Foundation has also given Fellowships to researchers like Simon Senzon DC, Ph.D to complete his Ph.D and to do his groundbreaking work on mapping the chiropractic literature and Amy Haas DC, Ph.D who is working on the next phase of the Foundation's project on immunity and chiropractic.