Wonderful day volunteering at the Mental Health and Wellness Fair in San Leandro. Our table was sponsored by the Five Branches University and the Alameda County Behavioral Health Department. I was offering free TCM diagnosis and acupressure for visitors.

I recently received an email from Dr. Andrew Avins, a research scientist from Northern California Kaiser-Permanente and UCSF, to gauge my interest in joining as an independent investigator the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) clinical trial of acupuncture for older adults with chronic low back pain. I researched the eligibility requirements to participate, and I