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Higher standards for yoga research. The prestigious ISCMR Scientific Article Prize in Complementary and Integrative Medicine is awarded for Lesley's research into yoga for the management of pain and sleep in rheumatoid arthritis.

ISCMR, the leading international organisation for researchers in traditional, complementary, alternative, and integrative medicine and health (TCAIM) has awarded its 2018 Scientific Article Prize to RRIO's Lesley Ward, PhD. The paper, entitled "Yoga for the management of pain and sleep in rheumatoid arthritis: a pilot randomized controlled trial," was published in the Journal Musculoskeletal Care.

Ward and her colleagues recruited 26 patients with rheumatoid arthritis to participate in a study evaluating the feasibility of a yoga intervention of one 75-minute session per week for 8 weeks. As a pilot study the focus was on recruitment, retention, protocol adherence, participant satisfaction and safety. The authors concluded that the pilot "provides a framework for larger intervention studies and supports further exploration of yoga as a complex intervention to assist with the management of rheumatoid arthritis."

The ISCMR Scientific Article Prize, established in 2014, is an annual award for the best scientific article in the field of traditional, complementary, alternative, and integrative medicine and health. It is made possible through the generous support of the Canadian Dr. Rogers Prize for Excellence in Complementary and Alternative Medicine. The award was granted on behalf of ISCMR by the organisation's Chair of the Article Prize Selection Committee, Lynda Balneaves, RN, PhD. Balneaves, who led a team that reviewed submissions, commented on the selection: "The ISCMR Scientific Article Prize Selection Committee was faced with a difficult decision this year given the high calibre of the articles submitted from around the world. Ultimately, Dr. Ward and her colleagues' well-written article was selected as it provides an important foundation for future integrative medicine research on a challenging health condition experienced by many individuals, was of high methodological quality, and engaged an international team of researchers."

The award includes a $5,000 CDN cash prize and coverage of all expenses for ISCMR's annual research meeting.

Congratulations to Lesley!