Cambridge, Mass., May 16, 2016, — Dr. Xiu-Min Li of Mount Sinai Hospital was recently awarded 2016 Future of Health Technology Award for Innovative Research on Botanical Drugs for Allergies and Immune System Diseases. The award ceremony was held at MIT. Counselor Xing Jijun of Chinese Consulate in New York City attended the event and congratulated Dr. Li for winning the prestigious award.
(L to R) Counselor Xing Jijun, Barbara Winston and Professor Xiu-Min Li at the award ceremony.
Can Chinese Herb-based Medicines Heal the Immune System and Cure Allergies?
Dr. Xiu-Min Li, Director, Center for Integrative Medicine for Allergies and Wellness and Professor of Pediatric Allergy and Immunology, Mount Sinai Hospital, has been named the recipient of the 2016 Future of Health Technology Award for her research and clinical work on botanical drugs for asthma, food allergies, and other diseases of the immune system, and for her vision to make them available to patients through integrative medical practice.
Allergic diseases represent a growing threat to life and quality of life in developed nations and are spreading as more countries strive for Western living standards. According to American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology there are approximately 50 million people with allergies in US.
The award was presented on May 2, 2016, during the 20th Anniversary Future of Health Technology Summit™ in Cambridge, MA USA at the MIT Media Laboratory.
About FHTI Future of Technology Award
The Future of Health Technology Award is given to those whose work can help reduce suffering, maximize the potential for self-realization and extend human potential with technology.
The award is in the form of a statue of Pegasus, the winged horse of inspiration. It features crystal eyes and one extra eye to reflect extra insight that future health technologies will provide. Award Ceremony takes place during Future of Health Technology Dinner at the annual Future of Health Technology Summit.
Previous winners of the FHTI award include Lorraine Gudas (2013), Joseph Kvedar (2012), Craig Feied (2011), Ben Miller (2010), Rosalind Picard (2009), Sandy Pentland (2008), Raymond Kurzweil (2007), Eric Dishman (2006), Kevin Warwick (2002), and Marvin Minsky (1998).
“Dr. Li’s compassion and ground-breaking discoveries immensely improve the quality of her patients’ lives. How can we use her wisdom to conquer pandemic of diseases of the immune system around the world?” asked Renata Bushko, founder of Future of Health Technology Institute.
About Dr. Xiu-Min Li
The research projects of Dr. Li and her collaborators have provided major insights into the immune system with the goal of creating safe botanical drugs for food allergies, eczema, allergic rhinitis and asthma and, in the future, potentially for irritable bowel disease (IBD) and weight control, without the cytotoxicity, depression, and anxiety that frequently accompany mainstream treatment.
Her work also uncovered potential early intervention for preventing food allergy and asthma altogether. Facilitated by a dual regulatory structure, which allows botanical drugs to be used as supplements even while research on investigational drugs continues, her novel eczema, food allergy, and asthma treatments are already helping patients in her private clinical practice. One of her many patients, Christopher Burch, Founder of Burch Creative Capital calls her “the Healing Angel”. “Dr. Li helps patients who cannot be helped by other doctors” said Barbara Winston, President of Bruce Winston Gem Corporation, familiar with Dr. Li’s excellent clinical outcomes.
The clinical experience also helps inform the laboratory science. Dr. Li has the vision of a broad collaboration to manufacture research-proven and evidence-based Chinese herbal medicines, and make them widely available through a practice network of trained allopathic physicians.
Dr. Li obtained her MD degree in Henan School of Chinese Medicine and a Master’s degree in Clinical Pediatric Immunology from The Graduate School of China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, where she was trained in integrative Western and Traditional Chinese Medicine.
She was Visiting Scientist at Stanford before completing a postdoctoral fellowship in Clinical Immunology at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Asthma and Allergy Center, and was appointed instructor.
Dr. Li was recruited to the Division of Pediatric Allergy and Immunology at Mount Sinai when the division was established in 1997. In the past 17 years, she has investigated novel therapies for asthma and food allergy combining expertise in allergy and immunology, molecular biology and Chinese herbal medicine. She is sponsor of US-FDA approved clinical studies of investigational new botanical drugs. In addition to the clinical studies, she has established immunobiology and botanical chemistry laboratories. Her research has resulted in nearly 100 publications.
She has given 2009 Gail G. Shapiro Memorial Lecture at the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. Dr. Li also served as vice Chair and then Chair of the American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology (AAAAI), Complementary and Alternative Medicine Practices in Allergy Committee. Dr. Li also served as Chair of the First East-West Scientific Conference on Allergy and Traditional Medicine.
Her work is featured in Henry Ehrlich’s book “Food Allergies: Traditional Chinese Medicine, Western Science, and the Search for a Cure”.