WP6 Phase I Kick-off Meeting

The Phase I Kick-off Meeting of WP6 was held successfully on 8th-9th October 2009 at Royal Berkshire Hotel, Ascot, London, UK. It was organized by Prof. Kenneth Muir and Dr. Jin Xu of the University of Warwick following the important start up work by Prof. George Lewith of the University of Southampton and other colleagues. The majority of WP6 members attended this Phase I Kick-off meeting.

The three-year plan of WP6 was discussed and agreed in principle, and the task groups and timetabling of deliverables were assigned to individuals during the meeting. It was recognised that the tasks of the WP6 clinical work package, particularly those of conducting a TCM survey in association with WP8 (acupuncture) are central to the overall development of the project although the limitations of funding would restrict the overall brief. In addition to the developing European collaborations, our Chinese experts, and other key Asian members of consortium, will work together to define the appropriate selected conditions to investigate further together with appropriate literature reviews and recommendations on guidelines on TCM clinical studies, (including recommendations on randomised controlled trials), which are vital to the overall success of the project. To facilitate the further engagement of our Chinese and Asian experts it was therefore agreed that Phase II kick-off meeting would be held in China around the end of the year or early next year.

In conclusion, we believe that the WP6 deliverable tasks, approved by CO of consortium, are achievable if we work together in close collaboration and that WP6 members would like to work together as a team with the WP6 and CO leaderships to implement the specific deliverables and overall objectives on time.