About the Conference

 

 

This conference will be held at the renowned Joseph B. Martin Conference Center at Harvard Medical School, surrounded by the culture and tradition of the Harvard and Fenway neighborhoods. This is a perfect contemporary location to elevate the TCQ Conference and its collaborative research and sessions. 

 

TRAVEL INFORMATION 

 

Audience

We anticipate attracting participants from around the world for this in-person event.  The conference aims to attract a diverse group of clinical and basic/translational scientist, international scholars, mind-body practitioners, healthcare administrators and policymakers to not only address the current evidence base of Tai Chi and Qigong (TCQ)—but also to explore topics integral to the growing and emerging role of TCQ in whole person health, nationally and internationally. We intend the dialogue of this conference to be relevant across multiple mind-body disciplines and movement-based practices. 

 

 

Traditional multi-modal mind-body-movement practices like Tai Chi and Qigong (TCQ) have evolved with a profound appreciation of the complex multi‐system dynamics that underlie health and disease. This appreciation for the interconnections and cross-system workings of our bodies and minds, along with patient-centered healing and the understanding that health is not simply the absence of disease- is at the heart of whole person health.

 

Whole person health is the primary organizing theme for the Osher Center for Integrative Health, as well as this conference The Science of Tai Chi & Qigong as Whole Person Health: Deepening our Physiological Understanding of the Mind-Body Connection. There is a growing body of basic and physiological research—including brain imaging and neurophysiology, musculoskeletal biomechanics, cognitive-motor interactions, autonomic regulation, and immune function—that supports this cross-systems paradigm. Our four plenary sessions explore fundamental processes of human health and healing, which provide a foundation upon which we can understand how TCQ and related mind-body practices uniquely impact health and well-being.  

 

In addition to keynote and plenary presentations, the agenda will include invited abstracts for poster and oral presentations, theme-centered symposia, and opportunities for networking and socialization. Performances and experiential sessions led by experts in the Boston area of Tai Chi and Qigong will add important context to the event.