MTF & S4OM: ACRONYMS THAT MATTER Cliff Korn, LMT, BCTMB – Vice President Cliff has been a professional massage therapist since 1993. He specializes in clinical and sports massage therapy and has been recognized as a specialist in event Sports Massage since 1996 when he was admitted to the AMTA National Sports Massage Team. He served as a member of the sports massage team that annually works with the John Hancock Elite Athlete Program in association with the Boston Marathon. Cliff is the former owner of Windham Health Center Neuromuscular Therapy LLC, in Windham, NH. He is Nationally Certified in Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork and is licensed as a massage therapist by the states of New Hampshire and Florida. Cliff is a certified member of Associated Bodywork and Massage Professionals (ABMP); a professional member and Past-President of the New Hampshire chapter of AMTA; a past Chairman of the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork (NCBTMB); served his profession for seven years as the inaugural Editor of the nationally distributed trade publication, Massage Today; was a 2009 inductee in the World Massage Festival’s Massage Therapy Hall of Fame; and serves as a Commissioner for the Commission on Massage Therapy Accreditation (COMTA). Cliff is a former member of the Massage Therapy Foundation’s Advisory Council and serves on the Foundation’s Executive, Finance, Governance, and Development Committees.

2. MTF & S4OM
ACRONYMS THAT MATTER
Cliff Korn
Vice President
Massage Therapy Foundation

3. Who Are We?
•We are a philanthropic institution [501(c)(3)]
that advances the knowledge and practice
of massage therapy by supporting scientific
research, education and community service
• Our Vision: The practice of massage
therapy is evidence-informed and
accessible to everyone.

5. Should We Collaborate?
Do MTF Goals align with S4OM Needs?
1. Advance research on therapeutic massage and
bodywork.
2. Foster massage therapy initiatives that serve
populations in need.
3. Promote research literacy and capacity in the
profession.
4. Support the evidence-informed practice of therapeutic
massage and bodywork based upon available research,
client factors, and practitioner experience and judgment.
5. Fortify the Foundation’s financial resources and
organizational effectiveness.

6. Working Together
Here are some fantastic ways to get involved with the
Foundation:
• Donate-when you give to us, you give to the profession
• Sponsor-whether you choose to sponsor an event or a
seminar, know that you are committing to building a better
industry
• Volunteer-we can not do it without the many individuals
who so kindly donate their time
• International Journal of Therapeutic Massage &
Bodywork-get your ad featured in one of the only peer-reviewed
online journals for massage therapists

7. Tools We Use (Programs)
• Community Service
Grants
• Case Report Contest
• IJTMB.org
• Research Posters
• Research Conference
• eBooks
• Research Literacy
Courses
• Research Grants
• Research Perch
• Research Agenda
Collaboration opportunities!!

8. 2013 Community Service Grant Recipients
• HIV Comprehensive Wellness
• Donna Pine-Kimil; Gay Men's Health Crisis, New York, NY
• Infant Massage for At-Risk Families
• Nath Chad; Grinnell Regional Medical Center, Grinnell, IA
• Grief Massage at The Respite: Comfort for Life
Transition and Loss
• Aimee Taylor; The Respite, A Center for Grief and Hope, Charlotte,
NC (Sponsored in part by a donation from Biotone)
• Massage Therapy in Pediatric Palliative Care
• Dr. Jeffrey Gold; Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
(Sponsored in part by a donation from Biotone)

9. 2013 Case Report Contest Award Recipients
Students
• Gold Award Winner
• Jennifer Nielsen - Chronic
Hyperventilator with Irritable Bowel
syndrome
• Silver Award Winner
• Morag Wehrle - Professional
Violinist
• Bronze Award Winner
• Linda Ching – Piriformis Syndrome
• Honorable Mention
• Meghan Reid - Spinal Cord Injury
Practitioners
• Gold Award Winner
• Angela Burke - Stress
Reduction in Children with
Autism Spectrum Disorder
• Silver Award Winner
• Laura Allen - Chronic Low
Back Pain
• Honorable Mention
• Rosi Goldsmith - Parkinson’s
Disease

10. International Journal of Therapeutic
Massage and Bodywork (IJTMB.org)
• Scientifically-based articles of a
research, educational, and practice-oriented
nature
• Indexed in PubMed
• Began in 2008
Editors
• Antony Porcino, PhD
• Karen Boulanger,
PhD
• Albert Moraska, PhD
• Niki Munk, PhD
• Whitney Lowe
• Glenn Hymel, PhD

11. Research Posters/Conferences
• Involvement with MTF
through submitting
posters or having
platform presentations
• AMTA National
• International Massage
Therapy Research
Conference

12. OTHER MTF PROGRAMS
OF INTEREST TO S4OM

13. 2013 Research Grant Recipient
“The Effect of Massage Therapy on Cancer
Related Fatigue in Breast Cancer Survivors”
Paulette Swanson, PT, DPT, MS, cert. MDT
Middlesex Hospital Cancer Center, Middletown, CT

14. Samueli Institute- Systematic Review
• Samueli Institute is a non-profit research organization
supporting the scientific exploration of healing processes
and their role in medicine, with the mission of
transforming health care worldwide.
• Current review
• Massage therapy for pain
• Future reviews
• Massage therapy for
cancer pain
• Massage therapy for
surgical pain

15. ANY QUESTIONS?
ANY SUGGESTIONS FOR
COLLABORATION?

16. Research pyramid of evidence

17. Research Agenda
1. Build a research infrastructure within the massage
therapy profession.
• Encourage development of a research literate massage therapy
profession.
• Work with stakeholders to establish research as a core competency
in the professional education of massage therapists.
• Fund the education of massage therapy researchers.
• Foster collaborations, create pathways and establish linkages that
encourage interactions of massage therapists with physicians,
clinical and experimental researchers, and social scientists.

18. Research Agenda
2. Fund research into the safety and efficacy of
massage therapy.
• Begin by funding studies that compare the relative effectiveness of
different massage modalities for a given condition
• Then fund studies that compare the optimum massage therapy for
a given condition with other standard methods of care (medical,
chiropractic, acupuncture, etc.).

19. Research Agenda
3. Fund studies of physiological (or other)
mechanisms by which massage therapy achieves
its effects.
4. Fund studies stemming from a wellness paradigm.
• Document what “wellness” means to stakeholders.
• Establish the dimensions of the effects of massage therapy on
“self‐healing.”
• Align these studies with the study of physiological mechanisms
above.
• Explore the interaction of consciousness, wellness and the actual
practice of massage therapists.

20. Research Agenda
• 5. Fund studies of the profession of therapeutic
massage.
• Fund studies that determine what makes a “good” or “great”
massage therapist.
• Document how massage therapists are perceived by themselves
and others.
• Evaluate the client assessment skills of massage therapists.
• Explore the dimensions of the therapeutic encounter.