July 2026
25th
The 22nd Meeting of the Consortium for Globalization of Chinese Medicine (CGCM) will be held at China Medical University in Taichung, Taiwan, 25-27 July. The CGCM aims to advance Chinese medicine to address global healthcare needs. Representing CGCM-UK, Dr Qihe Xu will attend the meeting, including the CGCM Council Meetings, and will deliver the CGCM-UK Regional Report. He will co-chair the “Regulation and Interregional Collaborations” session and introduce the progress, opportunities and challenges we face at King’s CICM, and provide an update on international standards and good practice guidelines in integrative medicine.
12th
Warm congratulations to King’s CICM Faculty Member Professor Dag Aarsland on receiving the Inge-Grundke-Iqbal Award for Alzheimer’s Research at this week’s Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in London. The Aarsland Lab has a strong interest in TCM, including 2-3 researchers from China with active TCM-related studies. Professor Aarsland—Professor of Old Age Psychiatry, Co-Director of Ageing Research at King’s, Director of the Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing, and Director of the NIHR HealthTech Research Centre in Brain Health at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience—has led multinational studies that have fundamentally shaped our understanding of Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease dementia and Lewy body dementia. A richly deserved accolade.
7th
The 14th Annual Meeting of the Good Practice in Traditional Chinese Medicine Research Association (GP-TCM RA) took place at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, 7-9 July. The GP-TCM RA was established through the FP7 GP-TCM EU-China collaboration on modernisation of Chinese medicine led by King’s College London. It is a charity registered in England and a consulting organisation (Interested Party) for the Committee on Herbal Medicinal Products, European Medicines Agency. Dedicated to the development, dissemination and implementation of good practices, the Association seeks to support high-quality research and foster global collaboration. Dr Qihe Xu is a core founder of the Association and sits on the Board. He co-chairs the Pharmacology & Toxicology Interest Group and the conference’s abstract review committee.
June 2026
29th
Professor Michael Heinrich (UCL School of Pharmacy, University College London), an Honorary Advisor of King’s CICM, has been awarded The Varro E. Tyler Prize, one of two major awards given annually by the American Society of Pharmacognosy, one of the globally leading international societies in the field of natural product and medicinal plant research. The award will be presented formally at the 2026 American Society of Pharmacognosy Annual Meeting in Denver, CO, USA, 25-29 July 2026, including a featured award lecture to present and reflect on Professor Heinrich’s lifetime achievements. More details can be found in UCL’s press release.
27th
Organised by The TCM Community, the Global Midsummer Conference 2026 took place today under the theme “From Root to Blossom: A Lifespan Approach in East Asian Medicine (EAM)”.
Dr Qihe Xu joined the meeting as a panellist on behalf of the King’s CICM initiative. During the discussions, he put forward an EAM+EBM model for th efuture of EAM teaching and practice, emphasising that EAM should be an active contributor to tomorrow’s medicine, while retaining the integrity of, and becoming a better, EAM by embracing, rather than rejecting Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM). By doing so, tradition will not be diluted; it is fortified. It will gain credibility in the eyes of policymakers and earn the trust of patients and multidisciplinary colleagues. By embracing the rigour of evidence, EAM will remain vibrant, relevant and progressive for centuries to come.
26th
The June 2026 Edition of The King’s CICM Newsletter is published: Docx version and PDF version. It features an editorial urging cross-cultural learning and an NHS task force for herbal medicines, welcomes Prof. Turkheimer and Dr Borsini to lead Body-Mind research, reports KHP’s emphasis on “turning partnership into impact” and King’s CICM’s engagements with the Health Innovation Network, and shares recent publications on integrative Chinese medicine research…
3rd
Dr. Qihe Xu met with Professor Andrew George MBE (profile), Chair of the Health Innovation Network South London (HIN) (HIN homepage), to discuss potential collaborations between King’s CICM and HIN. HIN is an NHS network that connects and fosters collaboration across the NHS, academia, industry, and investors to accelerate the adoption of proven health technologies and pathways—ultimately improving health outcomes, increasing productivity, and generating economic growth.
May 2026
24th
The May 2026 Edition of The King’s CICM Newsletter is published.
22nd
In response to the opinion article “We can’t explain the UK’s declining healthy life expectancy without talking about austerity” published in The BMJ, Dr Qihe Xu, Professor Yanzhong Wang, and Dr Min Zhang—members of the King’s CICM Directorship Team—submitted a response titled “Integrative medicine in the UK: one year after the new WHO Traditional Medicine Strategy“. They propose that evidence-based traditional, complementary, and integrative medicine (TCIM) approaches be more systematically embedded in healthcare education and professional training. Furthermore, they recommend the establishment of an NHS evidence review board for TCIM to assess efficacy and safety for specific conditions, support high-quality research, and develop clear clinical guidance.
11th
Warmest congratulations to Guy’s Hospital on its tercentenary! As a teaching hospital of King’s College London, Guy’s Hospital at London Bridge is a core member of King’s Health Partners. Last week, the hospital marked its 300th anniversary with a grand celebration – a particular highlight was an official visit to the Guy’s Cancer Centre by His Majesty King Charles III, King’s College London’s Royal Patron, escorted by Professor Shitij Kapur, President of the University.
It is worth noting that Dimbleby Cancer Care – where our King’s CICM faculty member, Mandy Brass, has established an NHS acupuncture service for cancer patients – is located right at the entrance to Guy’s Cancer Centre.
10th
King’s CICM published an editorial, titled 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡𝐲 𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐈𝐬 𝐃𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐲 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 – 𝐀 𝐁𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐈𝐬 𝐎𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐝𝐮𝐞. It is available on King’s Community, the university’s internal forum, and via LinkedIn
6th
King’s CICM published an editorial titled Herbal Medicine Is Ignored in UK Healthcare Training and Practice. Should it continue like this? It is available on King’s Community, the university’s internal forum, as well as via LinkedIn. The editorial has aroused lively discussions. The internal post reached over 800 reads, and the LinkedIn post garnered 5 reposts, 30 likes, and ~ 2,500 impressions.
5th
Talking about the new way of working together for King’s College London (KCL) and our NHS partners (teaching hospitals), Professor Graham Lord, Senior Vice President (Health), KCL, and Executive Director of the KHP, noted in a recorded video: “We are seeing rapid advances in life sciences, digital technologies and personalised medicine. That combination makes it essential that we use the strength of our partnership to deliver the greatest possible impact for patients, communities, and staff and students.“
4th
Ms Lu Chen, a PhD student and member of the King’s CICM initiative, has published a significant systematic review focusing on communication research within traditional Chinese medicine. The review, co-authored with Dr Deborah Chinn (Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery and Palliative Care) and Dr Chris Tang (Faculty of Social Science & Public Policy), was published online today in Health Communication, a leading journal in the field.
2nd
King’s CICM published an editorial titled Integrative Medicine in the NHS: Present and Future. The editorial was also published on King’s Community, the university’s internal forum, and via LinkedIn.
1st
International best practice guidelines play a key role in ensuring the quality and integrity of herbal medicine research. To facilitate Chinese scientists in accessing and applying these resources, King’s CICM Honorary Advisors, Professor Xuanbin Wang (People’s Hospital, Hubei University of Medicine, China) and Professor Michael Heinrich (University College London, UK), have joined forces with Professor Hongxi Xu (Shanghai University of Chinese Medicine) to lead the development of a review titled ‘International Best Practice Guidelines for Chinese Medicine Research’ (中药研究的国际最佳报告指南综述). This important review was published today in a leading Chinese journal, Chinese Traditional and Herbal Drugs (《中草药》). King’s CICM is proud to have facilitated this fruitful collaboration.
April 2026
28th
Warmest congratulations to Professor Thomas Efferth, Honorary Advisor to King’s CICM, on receiving the 8th Cheung On Tak International Award. This morning, Hong Kong Baptist University published an official press release announcing the 8th Cheung On Tak International Award for Outstanding Contribution to Chinese Medicine, jointly awarded to Professor Thomas Efferth and Professor Yuandong Shen. The awards ceremony took place at Hong Kong Baptist University on 23rd April 2026.
Professor Efferth is Director of the Institute of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences at Johannes Gutenberg University in Germany and serves as Editor-in-Chief of the journal Phytomedicine. Professor Shen is affiliated with Shanghai University of Chinese Medicine and chairs ISO/TC 249 – the Traditional Medicine Committee of the International Organization for Standardization.
28th
The April | May Day 2026 Special Issue of The King’s CICM Newsletter is published.
18th
China News published a press release: King’s CICM Holds Academic Conference Highlighting Quality Clinical Evidence. The reportattracted more than 404,000 reads and 933 likes in one week and was republished by several news agencies, e.g. Sohu, Sina, Baidu, Tencent, NetEase, Xi’an News Network, Shangluo Window.
This was a follow-up feature — on October 10, 2024, China News reported the launch of King’s CICM 2.0, which attracted over 330,000 reads and 862 likes, and was republished by seven major platforms, resulting in a Baidu Baike terminolgy King’s CICM (伦敦国王学院整合中医药学中心).
15th
King’s CICM Research Meeting Puts Spotlight on Clinical Evidence. The 3rd King’s CICM Research Meeting was held on Guy’s Campus. The event featured talks of four King’s CICM faculty members, two honorary advisors, an invited expert and a King’s medical student. These were followed by a panel discussion and a networking gathering, as reported here. A report on this event at King’s Community—the university’s internal forum—Integrative Medicine at King’s: Where are we now? Where are we going? attracted ~2,300 reads in three weeks.
10th
Dr Xu undertook a productive series of academic engagements in Nanjing, China, from 7th to 10th April. His itinerary included visits and exchanges at Jiangsu Province Hospital and the First Hospital Affiliated with Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine (NJUCM), and China Pharmaceutical University (CPU). At CPU, he delivered an invited speech, titled Seeking Wisdom from TCM: What and How Can Modern Medicine Learn from Traditional Practices? Read more about the visits.
9th
Exciting News for the Future of Traditional and Integrative Medicine! An international team of 20 experts from 11 countries and regions has published a groundbreaking scoping review titled ‘International Standards and Good Practice Guidelines in Traditional, Complementary and Integrative Medicine’ in Frontiers in Pharmacology.
This study was co-led by Dr Qihe Xu, Director of King’s CICM, alongside nine King’s CICM Honorary Advisors. The corresponding authors are Dr Xu and three King’s CICM Honorary Advisors: Professor Xuanbin Wang (People’s Hospital, Hubei University of Medicine, China), Professor Rudolf Bauer (University of Graz, Austria) and Professor Pierre Duez (University of Mons, Belgium).
A LinkedIn post on this work by co-author and King’s CICM Honorary Advisor Professor Michael Heinrich (University College London, UK), who is also Editor-in-Chief of the Ethnopharmacology Section of Frontiers in Pharmacology, has attracted more than 110 likes and 10 reposts.
We warmly invite you to read more and help disseminate this important work.
2nd
Dr Qihe Xu visited Professor Jing Cheng, Member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Director of the National Engineering Research Center for Beijing Biochip Technology, Chairman, CEO and Chief Technical Officer of CapitalBio Corporation, and Chair Professor at Tsinghua University. Dr. Guo Hongyan, Senior Scientist of CapitalBio Jingfang, and Dr Zheng Peng, Director of Academician Cheng’s Office, accompanied the visit and participated in discussions.
March 2026
31st
Dr Qihe Xu met with Professor Jinsheng Yang, Secretary-General, World Federation of Acupuncture-Moxibustion Societies (WFAS) at the Institute of Basic Theory for Chinese Medicine, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences (CACMS), joined by Professor Yuyang Yang (WFAS’s Standing Deputy Secretary-General) and Dr. Yuan Liang, Editorial Officer of Guidelines and Standards in Chinese Medicine and Researcher at the Institute of Basic Theory for Chinese Medicine, CACMS.
30th
King’s CICM Newsletter Qingming and Easter Special Edition was published, welcoming new team members, celebrating achievements, and extending festive greetings.
27th
A King’s CICM Fundraising Focus Meeting was attended by Mr David Meredith (Associate Director, Principal & International Giving) and King’s CICM Directorship Members Dr Qihe Xu, Prof. Yanzhong Wang and Dr Min Zhang. Meanwhile, our fundraising team members Ms Mylen Namocatcat (Head of Philanthropy International) and Mr Oliver Mangham (Senior Philanthropy Manager – International) were touring Asia.
25th
Today marks the release of the 100th version of the King’s CICM Handbook and the 37th edition of the King’s CICM Introductory PPT, with updated QS World Universities Ranking of King’s College London and Appendix 1 on evidence-based integrative medicine: https://www.kingscicm.org
23rd
IoPPN and King’s CICM Joint Research Meeting: Co-organised by the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) and the King’s CICM, the meeting took place on the Denmark Hill Campus. Hosted by Dr Alessandra Borsini, Programme Leader for the MSc in Psychology and Neuroscience of Mind-Body Interface, IoPPN, the session featured a presentation by Prof Hongchun Yin, Honorary Advisor at King’s CICM. His talk was titled: “Holism in Traditional Chinese Medicine: Mapping the Body’s Surface as an Acupoint Network and Hologram for Integrated Diagnosis and Intervention.” Dr Qihe Xu joined Prof. Federico Turkheimer, Director of King’s Institute for Human and Synthetic Minds, to lead the discussions on TCM-inspired research exploring the body–brain link and future IoPPN-CICM collaborations. Over 40 King’s fellows and students attended the meeting on-site or via Teams.
February 2026
28th
At the 183rd session of the European Pharmacopoeia Commission held in December 2025, 21 experts were appointed as members of the Traditional Chinese Medicine Working Party. These experts include five King’s CICM Honorary Advisors and GP-TCM RA Board of Directors—Dr Mei Wang (Chair of the Working Party), Prof Rudolf Bauer (Former Chair), Prof Pierre Duez, Prof Yuan Shiun Chang and Prof Xuanbin Wang)—alongside Prof. De-an Guo, former President (2014–2015) and current Co-Chair of the Publication Interest Group of the GP-TCM RA.
21st
We welcome Prof. Dag Aarsland to join King’s CICM. Dag is Professor of Old Age Psychiatry; Co-Director of Ageing Research at King’s; Director of Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing and Director of NIHR HealthTech Research Centre in Brain Health, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King’s College London. Expertise: Consultant Old Age Psychiatrist, Dementias, Digital Health, Clinical Trials. Research Interests: Alzheimer’s Disease; Biomarkers; Care Homes; Healthy Brain Ageing.
20th
The official webpage of King’s CICM was established on the King’s College London website.
16th
We are delighted to announce that The Face: A Cultural History by King’s CICM faculty member Prof. Fay Bound-Alberti has been named one of the Financial Times‘ best books of the week. In Face, identity, and culture, a book review published in The Lancet (2026;407:1225), Dr Gabriel Weston, a surgeon, writer and broadcaster, commented: “Bound-Alberti may struggle to recognise certain faces. But with this weighty, political, and beautifully written book, she illuminates changing conceptions of the face. By the end, I couldn’t help seeing her prosopagnosia as a kind of superpower, protecting her against the dangerous cultural determinism which begins, I now realise, with dangerous presumptuousness and a lazy tendency—in our interactions with others—to take too much at face value.”
Read Dr Weston’s book review and the book.
10th
King’s CICM Newsletter Chinese New Year Special Edition was published, welcoming new team members, celebrating achievements, and extending festive greetings.
7th
Dr. Qihe Xu met with ten outstanding PhD students from Henan University of Chinese Medicine, led by Professor Gao Peng. During the meeting, both parties introduced their respective personal and institutional research interests and visited the Jame Black Centre, which bears the name of the late Prof Sir James Black, former Professor of Analytical Pharmacology at King’s College London. Prof Sir James Black achieved worldwide recognition for his seminal discovery of beta-blockers—a transformative milestone in cardiovascular medicine—and the development of histamine receptor antagonists, which are fundamental gastroenterological therapeutics. In recognition of these ground-breaking contributions, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1988.
2nd
King’s CICM held its inaugural research conference for 2026 at the Denmark Hill campus. The conference, themed on the integration of modern tongue diagnostics and artificial intelligence, featured a presentation by our Honorary Advisor, Prof Hongchun Yin, titled “An Introduction to Modern Tongue Diagnostics: Focusing on Heart Disease.” The second speaker was Dr Yali Du, Senior Lecturer at King’s, who delivered a talk outlining her team’s research work on “Developing Safe and Efficient Cooperative Multi-agent Systems Using Reinforcement Learning and Large Language Models.” Read more…
January 2026
29th
King’s College London published an updated strategic vision: King’s Strategy 2030. To mark this important occasion, King’s CICM published an editorial—King’s CICM & King’s Strategy 2030: Partnering to Shape a Future in Service of Society.
27th
Upon the invitation of the Academic Committee of the Association of Traditional Chinese Medicine & Acupuncture UK (ATCM), Dr Qihe Xu delivered an invited special lecture, titled Let there be light: Let TCM wisdom inspire modern nephrology & pharmacology (bilingual PPT). The lecture was delivered in Chinese via Zoom: video capture
21st
Three King’s CICM Honorary Advisors, Prof Hongchun Yin, Prof. Guanhu Yang and Prof. Zhongzhen Zhao, and a King’s CICM collaborator, Dr Yonggang Han, are honoured with the 2025 Global Outstanding Contribution to Traditional Chinese Medicine Award, selected by an international panel of experts organised by the New England Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine. This year, only fifteen scholars worldwide have received this distinguished accolade.
8th
Dr Qihe Xu, on behalf of King’s CICM, met Dr Claire Mallinson, Director of Education, King’s Health Partners. Both parties have agreed to collaborate on developing integrative medicine training materials in support of education and training at King’s and beyond.
6th
Among the joint priorities of King’s CICM and King’s College London libraries for 2026 will be the sorting, curation, research, and strengthening of library resources supporting integrative medicine at King’s Health Partners. This initiative will be coordinated by Ms Eleanor Farley, Collections Liaison Librarian, Libraries & Collections, King’s College London.
December 2025
21st
King’s CICM Newsletter Dongzhi, Christmas and New Year Edition was published, welcoming new team members, celebrating achievements, and extending festive greetings.
27th
Advancing Mutual Engagement Between Chinese and English-speaking Worlds, Expanding Global Collaboration in Integrative Chinese Medicine was published
18th
WHO has established the Strategic and Technical Advisory Group on Traditional, Complementary and Integrative Medicine (STAG-TM), reflecting WHO’s growing capacity to apply scientific rigour to traditional medicine. The Advisory Group comprises 19 experts, including King’s CICM Honorary Advisors Dr John Hughes and Professor Aiping Lyu. Dr Hughes is Research Director of Royal London Hospital of Integrated Medicine. Prof Lyu is Vice-President (Research and Development) cum Dean of Graduate School, Dr. Kennedy Y. H. Wong Endowed Professor in Chinese Medicine at Hong Kong Baptist University. Professor Lyu was a former President of the GP-TCM Research Association.
Also elected on STAG-TM are Professor Jianping Liu, Director of Centre for Evidence-Based Chinese Medicine, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Co-Chair of the Acupuncture Interest Group of the GP-TCM Research Association, and Professor Myeong Soo Lee, Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine, who is also Chair of the Publication Interest Group of the GP-TCM Research Association.
17th
Professor Hongchun Yin, founder of Yin’s Modern Tongue Diagnostics and member of the King’s CICM Honorary Advisory Board, has received significant international recognition. The system he established, Yin’s Modern Tongue Diagnostics, has been selected as one of the 21 most outstanding innovative projects globally under the World Health Organization’s “Health and Heritage Innovation (H2I)” initiative. During the grand Second WHO Traditional Medicine Summit held in New Delhi, India, he delivered a speech that was livestreamed worldwide, highlighting the international influence of modern tongue diagnosis. Read more…
17th
Today, we welcomed Ms Mylen Namocatcat, Head of Philanthropy International, King’s College London, joining the fundraising team of King’s CICM. In the new year, Mylen will join forces with Mr Oliver Mangham (Senior Philanthropy Manager – International), Mr Alex Page (Senior Donor Relations Manager, Philanthropy & Alumni Engagement) and Mr David Meredith (Associate Director, Principal & International Giving) to drive the fundraising campaigns for King’s CICM.
8-12th
Dr Qihe Xu undertook a productive series of academic engagements in Shanghai. His itinerary included visits and exchanges with Zhongshan Hospital and Huashan Hospital of Fudan University Shanghai Medical College, Shanghai Sixth People’s Hospital, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (SHUTCM), and the editorial office of the journal Chinese Medicine and Culture. He also delivered a keynote speech at the Seminar on the Future of Integrative Medicine.… Continue reading
2nd
King’s CICM Newsletter Nov/Dec 2025 was published, celebrating growth and progress.
November 2025
23rd
Co-chaired by King’s CICM Honorary Advisors, Dr Tianjun Wang and Dr Liuzhong Ye, the Chinese Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine Alliance Annual Meeting 2025 was held successfully in London. The theme of this year’s meeting was “Pain and Neurological Disorders”. On behalf of King’s CICM, Dr Qihe Xu attended the whole-day meeting and delivered a speech at the opening session. Click here to read the meeting report.
15-16th
Mandy Brass, a member of King’s CICM Faculty and the Lead Acupuncturist at Dimbleby Cancer Care, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, hosted the ACMAC (Association of Community and Multibed Acupuncture Clinics) 2025 conference. Keynote speakers included our Honorary Advisers Professor Songxuan Ke and Mr Alex Jacobs. Click here to read the meeting report and Mandy’s story on the development of the acupuncture service for cancer care at Guy’s.
5th
Professor Graham Lord, Senior Vice President (Life Sciences & Health) at King’s College London and Executive Director of King’s Health Partners, met with our Honorary Advisors at the University of Hong Kong, where he introduced integrative Chinese medicine as an emerging strategic strength for King’s. Read more.
1st-2nd
Dr Qihe Xu delivered a keynote titled ‘Integrative Chinese Medicine: An Innovative Approach to Unmet Medical Needs‘ and presided over a workshop titled ‘Integrative Chinese Medicine: My view as a nephrologist‘ at the 2025 Dutch TCM Congress, Oosterbeek. The theme of the meeting was ‘Building Bridges: The Path to Integrative Medicine’. Read more
October 2025
30th
Global traditional medicine strategy 2025-2034, the final version of the new WHO traditional medicine strategy, is published on the WHO website.
21st-25th
Invited by Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Dr Qihe Xu chaired a session at the 23rd Conference on International Exchange of Professionals (CIEP) in Shanghai (21-22 Oct). On 25 Oct in Beijing, he presented on the state of the art of AI application in Traditional, Complementary and Integrative Medicine, and Related International Guidance at the 2025 China-APEC Fund Regulatory Science Symposium.
17th
Professor Hongchun Yin, King’s CICM Honorary Advisor and Website TCM Content Editor, submitted a proposal on modern tongue diagnostics to the WHO’s ‘Health Heritage Innovations Open Call (H2I)‘, involving collaboration with King’s CICM.
8th
Marking the first anniversary of King’s CICM 2.0, Professor Graham Lord, Senior Vice President (Life Sciences & Health) at King’s College London and Executive Director of King’s Health Partners, met with Dr Qihe Xu, Professor Yanzhong Wang, and Dr Min Zhang. They agreed on King’s CICM Plan for Strategic Growth & Impact (2025-2029), including renewed KHP fundraising priority and partnership support for King’s CICM, and an upgraded fundraising strategy for the King’s CICM Empowerment Fund and Breakthrough Fund. Read meeting minutes.
September 2025
27th
King’s College London launched a JustGiving page for the King’s CICM Fund, honouring UK TCM pioneers, to support the core research, education, and training programme of King’s CICM. Read more
24th
Dr Qihe Xu delivered a keynote, ‘TCIM Research: International Standards & Guidelines in the Era of Digital Intelligence‘, at the ‘Belt and Road’ Interdisciplinary Conference on AI, Lancaster University. The meeting is reported by Xinhua news.
23th
The WHO’s 2025 Global Report on Hypertension highlighted uncontrolled hypertension as a major global health threat. This, coupled with its link to chronic kidney disease (CKD) and the WHO resolution on kidney health as a global priority, underpins King’s CICM’s research focus on renal health (including hypertension).
21th
King’s CICM received a generous £500 donation from the London Academy of Chinese Acupuncture (LACA), distributed across our four memorial awards and the King’s CICM Fund.
20th
King’s College London launched a JustGiving page for the Man Fong Mei Award, supporting innovative cross-disciplinary TCM research, in memory of Professor Man Fong Mei, a pioneering figure in UK Chinese medicine. Read more
13th
King’s College London launched a JustGiving page for the Boying Ma Award, supporting medical history/humanities research, in memory of Professor Boying Ma, a renowned scholar and historian of Chinese medicine. Read more
6th
King’s College London launched a JustGiving page for the Peter Hylands Award, supporting early-career researchers using advanced technologies in TCM, in memory of Professor Peter Hylands, co-founder of King’s CICM. Read more
August 2025
30th
Dr Qihe Xu‘s commentary on the WHO International Standard Terminologies for TCM approached 22,000 downloads on his academic page.
30th
Commenting on a Nature Medicine editorial and related LinkedIn post, Dr Qihe Xu noted its emphasis on resilience to disease aligns with TCM’s emphasis on innate defence and the modern “Hallmarks of Health Theory“. His comment received ~220 reads in two weeks.
23rd
Dr Qihe Xu endorsed The King’s Fund’s view on the NHS, stating bold thinking and a people-centric approach are needed. His comment gained ~1,300 reads in three days and ~4,000 within a month.
23rd
King’s College London launched a JustGiving page for the Peter Houghton Award, supporting early-career researchers in herbal medicine, in memory of Professor Peter Houghton, a leading international figure in pharmacognosy and TCIM. Read more
15th
Dr Goh Cheng Soon, King’s CICM Honorary Adviser, was appointed Co-Chair of the Steering Committee of the 2nd WHO Global Traditional Medicine Summit, to be held in India in December. The Summit aims to promote the implementation of the WHO Traditional Medicine Strategy (2025-2034)
11th
King’s reported on anti-cancer drug developments from a spin-out company co-founded by Professor Miraz Rahman, a core King’s CICM faculty member.
July 2025
24-27th
The 13th GP-TCM Research Association Annual Meeting was held at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. A special session honoured the late King’s Professor Peter Houghton. Three young scientists received the Peter Hylands Poster Prize, which honours the late King’s Professor Peter Hylands, Co-founder of King’s CICM. At the special session, it was announced that King’s will launch a JustGiving campaign to raise funds for the Peter Houghton Award, followed by campaigns for other awards——Read more about King’s CICM fundraising strategy. Dr Qihe Xu’s LinkedIn post on this event has attracted almost 1500 impressions.
11th
The WHO released the ‘Mapping the Applications of AI in Traditional Medicine: Technical Brief‘.
3rd
As noted by The Lancet 30 years ago, tongue diagnostics has long been a distinctive strength and specialised domain of TCM diagnosis. Today, Dr Qihe Xu visited modern tongue diagnosis expert Professor Hongchun Yin in London. They agreed to collaborate in modern tongue diagnosis research and teaching at King’s CICM. Dr Yin is the author of several authoritative works, including Modern Tongue Diagnostics in Chinese Medicine (English edition), The Principles and Atlas of Yin’s Modern Tongue Diagnostics (Chinese edition), and Yin’s Approach to Herbal Prescriptions Based on Tongue Diagnosis (Chinese edition). For further details, please refer to: https://www.icmtd.uk.
June 2025
25th
King’s CICM core faculty member, Professor Miraz Rahman, was elected Fellow of the Bangladesh Academy of Sciences. Read more.
24th
Professor Luigi Gnudi, a Diabetes and Metabolic Medicine expert, joined the King’s CICM faculty.
23rd
Dr Richard Siow, King’s CICM faculty member and Director, Ageing Research at King’s, was appointed Chair of the Strategic Advisory Board, Longevity Science Foundation.
17th
The journal Integrative Medicine in Nephrology and Andrology (IMNA), for which Dr Qihe Xu is an editorial board member, was indexed in Clarivate’s Web of Science (ESCI).
12th
UK Kidney Week 2025 highlighted Dr Qihe Xu’s TCM-inspired research on glomerular parietal epithelial cells, at a workshop convened by Dr Xu and funded by Kidney Research UK. Read more
9-10th
A two-day KCL-PKUHSC Innovations in Cardiovascular Research Workshop, jointly organised by Dr Min Zhang and Professor Giovanni E Mann, was successfully held on King’s London Bridge Campus. King’s CICM Cardiovascular Research Team Members Dr Min Zhang and Dr Haotian Gu delivered presentations at the event. Dr Qiuping Zhang and Dr Qihe Xu also attended the workshop.
9th
Can the WHO Traditional Medicine Strategy 2025-2034 align with King’s Strategy 2030?
King’s CICM published a strategic article on King’s internal forum ‘King’s Strategy 2030’. This platform fosters discussion on the university’s post-bicentenary directions. The article garnered over 1100 views.
7th
Dr Min Zhang (Senior Lecturer in Cardiovascular Biology and expert in Cardiovascular Biology, Oxidative Damage and Heart Failure research) has been appointed as Assistant Director.
Professor Yanzhong Wang (Professor of Population Health Statistics, Head of Department of Medical Statistics, and expert in Medical Statistics, AI, and Digital Technologies) has been appointed as Co-Director.
3rd
Join King’s CICM and help shape the future of integrative medicine!
A recruitment notice was shared on the internal ‘King’s Community’ platform, inviting KHP staff and students to join our centre. The post attracted significant interest, with over 1,800 views within two weeks.
May 2025
31st
Mr Hui Zhang, Editor-in-Chief of World Chinese Weekly, published an article titled “A Dragon Boat Festival Gift: The Official Launch of the King’s Centre for Integrative Chinese Medicine Website,” promoting our new website (English | 中文). The article reached over 3,000 readers in 24 hours.
30th
The King’s CICM website was launched (English | 中文), marking a new era for the King’s CICM 2.0 Innovation Initiative and fundraising campaign.
26th
The 78th World Health Assembly adopted the WHO Draft Traditional Medicine Strategy 2025-2034, championing evidence-based integration of traditional medicine. Read more
25th
A Scholarly project “Integrative Medicine: What to Integrate and How?” was approved for the 2025-2026 academic year. This Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) study will engage third-year medical students to explore the feasibility of piloting integrative medicine within the NHS.
23rd
We have established a strategic collaboration with Ageing Research at King’s (ARK), becoming ARK’s Integrative Medicine Theme.
23rd
The 78th World Health Assembly, convened in Switzerland, formally adopted the resolution from the WHO Executive Board’s 156th session, elevating kidney disease to join cardiovascular diseases (including stroke), cancer, diabetes, respiratory diseases, and mental health as a global health priority.
17th
Professor Yanzhong Wang‘s team published significant new research in The Lancet Regional Health – Europe. The study reveals that post-stroke depression can have a severe and long-term impact on survivors—for up to a full decade after the initial stroke. These pivotal findings underscore an urgent need for long-term mental health support within stroke rehabilitation pathways. Following its publication, the research gained notable attention and was featured in a special report by the EuroAsia Review.
April 2025
29th
We have established a new collaboration with the South London Health Innovation Network (HIN). We are delighted to welcome the HIN Medical Director, Dr Natasha Curran, to our centre’s mailing list.
24th
King’s CICM website (Chinese version) goes live.
16th
King’s CICM website (English version) goes live.
8th
Connection established with King’s College Hospital Charity.
2nd
Our heartfelt thanks to Honorary Advisors Dr Dan Jiang and Mr Hang Li for their generous donation of £3,000 to the King’s CICM Fund and four named memorial awards (Peter Hylands Award、Peter Houghton Award, Boying Ma Award and Man Fong Mei Award)，contributing £600 to each fund.
March 2025
31st
We initiated an international collaboration on the “International Standards and Good Practice Guidelines for Traditional, Complementary and Integrative Medicine: A Scope Review” commissioned by the GP-TCM Research Association.
22nd
Launched the King’s CICM Fundraising Plan, aiming to establish Peter Hylands Award, Peter Houghton Award, Boying Ma Award and Man Fong Mei Award.
Published the second edition of the King’s CICM Handbook, establishing an interdisciplinary core team and the research priorities of the Centre.
February 2025
27th
A major 7-year EU collaborative multicentre trial led by Professor Yanzhong Wang has been published in The Lancet. The trial provides crucial insights into stroke prevention in cerebral haemorrhage patients with atrial fibrillation.
22nd
Held a productive online meeting with Professor Peter Goadsby, FRS, NIHR Clinical Research Director and renowned migraine expert, to discuss collaboration on non-pharmacological migraine therapies.
10th
Mandy Brass, a King’s CICM Staff Member, and her colleague Karen Charlesworth, published their acupuncture research in patients with cancer. The article titled Evaluating the outcomes and patient experience of group and individual acupuncture in an NHS cancer care setting: a mixed-methods study was published in Support Care Cancer 33, 171 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-025-09226-x
January 2025
23rd
We extend our sincere gratitude to Phoenix Medical for their £3,000 donation, which has enabled us to development our bilingual website.
5th
The 1st Honorary Advisory Board meeting held, uniting 51 global experts.
Hosted the Inaugural King’s CICM Forum, co-organised with the UK Centre of Chinese Medicine, discussing integrative Chinese medicine as an innovative approach to tackling major health challenges.
December 2024
18th
First edition of the King’s CICM Handbook was developed, detailing our strategic plans.
Received a £1,000 anonymous donation from an Honorary Advisor to support our inaugural board meeting and forum.
November 2024
30th
Dr Qihe Xu’s correspondence on Systemic Lupus Erythematosus therapies was published in The Lancet.
October 2024
8th
The launch of our King’s CICM 2.0 fundraising plan was featured in a China News special report, which attracted over 330,000 reads and 862 likes, was republished by seven major platforms, and resulted in ing a Baidu Baike terminolgy King’s CICM (伦敦国王学院整合中医药学中心).
September 2024
25th
We commenced a project to catalogue Chinese medicine literature at the British Library.