Centre for Complementary Medicine Research

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Welcome

Message from the Acting Director

Welcome to the Centre for Complementary Medicine Research (CompleMED), an internationally recognised research centre in the College of Health and Science at the University of Western Sydney (UWS), Australia.

Complementary medicine is an exciting, evolving new field of discovery to which CompleMED is contributing groundbreaking knowledge. CompleMED's principal aim is to promote an evidence based approach to the use of complementary medicine in healthcare. Like most of the western world, Australia is experiencing an increase in the acceptance and use of complementary medicine, however there is a need for scientific evidence to support this high level of use. By building on the wealth of traditional medical knowledge, scientific research allows us to create new knowledge and options for enhancing health and wellbeing that can be used in our modern healthcare environment.

CompleMED’s research program focuses on the safety, efficacy and use of complementary medicine, and employs a diverse range of disciplines to investigate these issues.  We have established state of the art analytical and pharmacology laboratory facilities to research how herbal medicines work on a cellular and molecular level, and to analyse and quantify the complex components contained in the medicines. Our clinical research investigating the effect of herbal medicines on a range of important health conditions has been published in leading medical journals, and CompleMED established Australia’s first hospital based traditional Chinese medicine research facility with Liverpool Hospital in Sydney. CompleMED has also played a key role in the development of national policies for practitioner regulation, and in the establishment of Australia’s National Institute of Complementary Medicine.

The Centre collaborates with a range of government and industry partners both nationally and internationally, undertaking independent research to support the development of the complementary medicine sector, and to provide opportunities for innovation in research, policy and commercialisation.

I am pleased to welcome you to CompleMED, and invite you to contact us if you have any questions about our research or other activities.

Dr. Dennis Chang
PhD (Syd), MSc (Syd), MBBS (SUMS)
Acting Director

'...building on the wealth of traditional knowledge to create new healthcare options'

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Capabilities
Our Herbal Analysis Laboratory supports product development and quality assurance and stability testing. It adheres to Good Laboratory Practice and is certified by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA). This laboratory features:

• High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)
• Mass spectrometry (MS)
• High performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC)
• Gas liquid chromatography (GLC)

Our Herbal Pharmacological Laboratory is designed for biomolecular studies and can culture human and animal cell lines as well as primary cells. We are notable for concurrent patch-clamp electrophysiology and digital fluorescence imaging.

For more information, please see Capabilities brochure (PDF, 894Kb).

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Areas of Expertise

Scientific research into the clinical efficacy, safety, mechanisms of action, and social and economic value of complementary medicine is a relatively new academic endeavour.  It spans the biomedical, clinical, social, economic and public health fields, creating a vibrant, interdisciplinary context. Drawing on our legacy of traditional knowledge, CompleMED’s research program investigates the breadth of interrelated issues in complementary medicine from the broad social research perspective to detailed chemical and molecular analysis of herbal medicines. 

To address the broad range of issues related to the development and integration of complementary medicine, CompleMED’s research program is structured into three strands of research activity:

• clinical research to validate the efficacy and safety of complementary medicine and therapies
• laboratory research on the identification, bioavailability and mechanisms of action of herbal medicines
• health policy research on issues such as safety, industry regulation and practice standards in complementary medicine.

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Location

CompleMED’s headquarters are located at the Bankstown campus of the University of Western Sydney, and the Herbal Analysis & Pharmacology Laboratories are at the Campbelltown campus.

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