Palmer’s research center has been continuously
funded by National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants since 1997. Along with those research grants, Palmer invests up to another $3 million in PCCR each year. The College’s commitment to research is reflected in its mission: to promote learning, deliver health care, engage communities and advance knowledge through research. While Palmer students have opportunities to engage
with PCCR while on campus, only a small number go on to pursue research as a career. So, what exactly is chiropractic research? And why is Palmer all-in on its research center? “Ultimately, this work is about improving patient
care — it is the impact on the patient that guides our vision,” says Dr. Long. “We do that by producing new knowledge that influences practice in the clinic, pedagogy in the classroom and our ability to speak to peers in other fields.” Every researcher at PCCR has a specialty and a
unique research agenda. Recent publications have reported on research visualizing connective tissues over a course of care for people with chronic low back pain, using insurance claims to investigate predictors
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of escalated spine care, describing characteristics of patients in VA chiropractic clinics during the COVID-19 pandemic, and touched on more than 25 other topics in the last fiscal period alone. This growing body of knowledge does not appear
overnight. For Dr. Long and the team of Palmer researchers, the time between an idea and a published paper can be years. “Some of our larger-scale trials can take five to 10 years,” says Zacariah Shannon, D.C., M.S., Ph.D., assistant professor, PCCR (`14). “And some questions can linger, guiding an entire career of research. Every researcher seems to have that type of curiosity.”
CURIOSITY, COLLABORATION AND CREATING TOOLS FOR BETTER OUTCOMES Aſter graduating from Palmer, Dr. Shannon worked in a clinical setting before that curiosity drew him to PCCR. “While I was practicing, I kept looking for answers, but it felt like there was a lot of missing information,” says Dr. Shannon. “I wanted to be part of the effort to answer those questions. At the PCCR I found an environment that rewards asking questions. Te support here has helped me grow as a researcher.”
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