King’s CICM Research Meeting Puts the Spotlight on Clinical Evidence

On 15 April, the King’s CICM Third Research Meeting 2026 was successfully held at Guy’s Campus, London Bridge, under the theme “Integrative Chinese Medicine: Quality Clinical Evidence is Key”.

The meeting was attended by 31 registrants and featured talks from four King’s CICM faculty members, two honorary advisors, one invited external expert, and a King’s medical student. These were followed by panel discussions and continued networking over a working lunch.

Chaired by Prof Yanzhong Wang, Co-Director of the King’s CICM, the event focused on two main themes: the role of high-quality clinical research in supporting the development of integrative medicine, and the integration of acupuncture into primary care, cancer management, etc.

Delegates conducted academic exchanges with King’s CICM faculty members who ran NHS acupuncture services at King’s. They visited the Guy’s Cancer Centre, and learnt from Ms Mandy Brass‘s talk on her experience in establishing NHS acupuncture services at Guy’s for cancer patients. They also learnt from Ms Titta M. Laattala‘s talk about her experience bringing acupuncture therapy to the general practitioner services at King’s College Health Centre.

They also enjoyed exciting talks on the potential role and mechanisms of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in cancer management by Dr Tiejun Tang (King’s CICM Honoarry Advisor); the importance of international standards and good practice guidelines for the development of integrative medicine by Dr Qihe Xu (King’s CICM Director); innovative clinical research methods, known as “target trial emulation” by Prof Yanzhong Wang; acupuncture therapy and its application in stroke rehabilitation by Dr Tianjun Wang (King’s CICM Honoarry Advisor); pulse-based acupuncture and novel control design for acupuncture studies by Dr Jun Xu, an invited speaker; and a scoping review of the perspectives of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) on traditional, complementary, and integrative medicine by Mr Safin Hossain, a King’s medical student supervised by Dr Qihe Xu.

Focusing on NICE’s recommendation of acupuncture for migraine treatment, a panel discussion was held, further highlighting the importance of high-quality evidence in integrative medicine. The panel discussion was co-chaired by  Dr Min Zhang, King’s CICM Assistant Director, and Dr Jun Xu.

Concluding the event, meeting delegates continued their discussions over a working lunch at the Science Gallery.

For a glimpse into this event, please watch a short mini-movie created by Ms Kit Li, a meeting delegate, and China News video (original) and press release (in Chinese). The latter was a follow-up feature — on October 10, 2024, China News highlighted the launch of King’s CICM 2.0 (in Chinese).

Appendix. Agenda

Time: 

• 9.15-9.45, Pre-Meeting Site Visit to the Guy’s Cancer Centre
• 10.00-13.30, King’s CICM Research Meeting
• 13.30-3.30, Working Lunch

Venue: Greenwood Classroom, 55 Weston Street, London Bridge, London SE1 3RA

10.00-11.30. Session 1. High-quality clinical studies underpin integrative medicine.

1. 10.00-10.15. Ms Mandy Brass, Acupuncture Service at Guy’s Cancer Centre
2. 10.15-10.40. Dr Tiejun Tang, Traditional Chinese Medicine in Cancer Management: Potential Role and Mechanisms
3. 10.40-11.05. Dr Qihe Xu, International Standards and Good Practice Guidelines: Essential Instruments for Advancing Integrative Medicine
4. 11.05-11.30. Prof Yanzhong Wang, Target trial emulation

11.30-11.40. Break 1

11.40-12.50. Session 2. Shining a light on acupuncture in integrative medicine.

1. 11.40-11.55. Ms Titta M. Laattala, My Work at the King’s College Health Centre
2. 11.55-12.10. Mr Safin Hossain. A Scoping Review of the Traditional, Complementary and Integrative Medicine Content on the NICE Website
3. 12.10-12.25. Dr Jun Xu. Pulse-based acupuncture.
4. 12.25-12.50. Dr Tianjun Wang, Acupuncture and Stroke Rehabilitation

12.50-12.55 Break 2

12.55-13.30 Panel Discussion: 

• Chair: Dr Min Zhang, King’s CICM Assistant Director; Co-Chair: Dr Jun Xu.
• Panellists: All speakers, guest attendees Dr Yonggang Han and Dr Xiaojun She, and other attending Senior Faculty Members and Honorary Advisors
• Topic: NICE recommends acupuncture for migraine but not for stroke rehabilitation, nor for many herbal medicine. What can we learn from the scientific evidence on acupuncture for migraine^1-5?

1. Zhao L, et al. The long-term effect of acupuncture for migraine prophylaxis: a randomized clinical trial. JAMA Intern Med. 2017;177:508-515. 
2. Xu S, et al. Manua acupuncture versus sham acupuncture and usual care for prophylaxis of episodic migraine without aura: multicentre, randomised clinical trial. BMJ. 2020;368:m697.
3. Lu T, et al. Acupuncture improves migraine and quality of life in patients with migraine: a systematic review with meta-analysis. Syst Rev. 2025;14:220
4. Cui S, et al. Acupuncture recommendations for migraine in headache treatment guidelines: a systematic review. Bull World Health Organ. 2025;103:685-695B.
5. Zhang X, et al. Acupuncture for migraine without aura and connection-based efficacy prediction: a randomized clinical trial. JAMA Netw Open. 2026;9:e2555454.