Osher Center researcher Judy Moskowitz, PhD, conducts research on positive affect for people with serious medical conditions, including HIV. Her research was recently cited in a Huffington Post article on coping with cancer, entitled “After Acceptance.”

The article also features UCSF’s excellent Art for Recovery project, an art therapy programs in which patients are encouraged to express their emotions through a variety of art projects.

UCSF Osher Center researcher Larissa Duncan, is an invited symposia chair for the Mindful Families, Schools & Communities: Research-to-Practice Promoting Child Well-being conference, to be held April 16th & 17th at the University of Washington, Seattle’s Center for Child and Family Well-being. This meeting will bring together researchers and practitioners whose work promotes the well-being of children and families through mindfulness.  The latest research findings and their applications will be presented, with rich opportunities for networking and discussion. The focus is on advancing the science of mindfulness to enhance children’s, parents’, caregivers’, educators’ and practitioners’ empathy, compassion, and self-regulation, and supporting caregivers’ stress-management, responsiveness, and consistency in their interactions with children, enhancing children’s well-being.

Please join us for a book reading of Mindful Birthing: Training the Mind, Body and Heart for Childbirth and Beyond by nurse-midwife Nancy Bardacke, CNM MA. This insightful book describes the innovative Mindfulness-Based Childbirth and Parenting (MBCP) program she teaches at the Osher Center.

Friday, October 12 from 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM
5:30 pm: Gathering and refreshments
6:15 pm: Book reading, followed by book signing
1545 Divisadero Street, 5th Floor, San Francisco (Map & Directions)

The Wall Street Journal recently ran a debate-style article on the question: “Are ADHD Medications Overprescribed?” Osher Center’s neurodevelopmental pediatrician, Dr. Sanford Newmark, was invited to write on the “Yes, we diagnose too fast” side of the debate. In addition to the written debate between Dr. Newmark and Dr. Harold Koplewicz, there is an interesting online readers’ poll on the subject.

Dr. Newmark cites studies that point to the conclusion that “people making the diagnoses aren’t distinguishing, in many cases, between normal developmental immaturity and ADHD.”

Osher Center Director, Margaret Chesney, PhD, was interviewed for an article on integrative medicine in the September issue of Comstock’s magazine, a Sacramento-based business magazine.

“Our integrative medicine center works hand in glove with the conventional medicine. We do get concerned if there is something people should avail themselves of, and we do send patients back to get surgery and medicines,” says Margaret Chesney, director of the Osher Center for Integrative Medicine at UC San Francisco.

“Few people use only alternative medicine. What they are doing is supplementing their usual, conventional care by adding things from complementary medicine, like dietary supplements, acupuncture, deep breathing and meditation or mind-body management.” Read more.

On Saturday, September 8 from 4:00 – 6:00 pm, Dr. Sanford Newmark will speak on “The ADHD Epidemic: Is Medication the Only Answer?” at Barnes & Noble, Corte Madera. This event will include a discussion and book signing with Dr. Newmark, author of ADHD Without Drugs: A Guide to the Natural Care of Children with ADHD, and Pulitzer Prize winner Katherine Ellison, author of “Buzz, A Year of Paying Attention.” This is a free event, and there is no need to pre-register. Printable Flyer

Would you like to spend a fun morning walking three miles in beautiful Mission Creek Park near UCSF’s Mission Bay campus on Saturday, September 29? The Osher Center is assembling a team for the Alzheimer’s Association Walk to End Alzheimer’s, the nation’s largest event to raise awareness and funds for Alzheimer’s care, support and research, and we would love for you to join our team! Come out and have fun, burn off a couple hundred calories, and support a great cause in the process! And we’ll give you a free official Osher Center pedometer to take with you! Contact Mary Destri at 415-353-7882 or destrim@ocim.ucsf.edu if you would like to join us. If you can’t make it, but would like to support us, please consider making a donation to our team.

On August 31, Osher Center practitioner Dr. Wolf Mehling will present Researching Body Awareness at the 2012 Feldenkrais Method Annual Conference, entitled “Embodying Neuroscinece: The Feldenkrais Method in Human Development, Performance & Health.” Dr. Mehling will present his research on body awareness, how to measure it and how to understand the complex concept from different perspectives in science and society.  The conference is open to the public, as well as Feldenkrais practitioners and trainees.

Dr. Mehling will also be presenting at a conference in Berlin, Germany on August 22, on “Fortschritte in der Mind/Body Medizin und ihre Bedeutung für Atem-und Körpertherapie,” about new research in mind-body medicine with implications for breath and body therapies, at the Immanuel Hospital, Department for Integrative Medicine.