Nutraceutical Medical Research, LLC is committed to educating and providing the most authoritative information to the natural products industry, practitioners and the public on the importance of research on natural products and ingredients and developments in the field of integrative, complementary and alternative medicine. A variety of continuing education courses are offered through formats including teleconferencing, video-conferencing, onsite/physical conferences and lectures.

White Papers/Presentations

1. Exploratory Research Unlocks Product Potential
   
   Richards, L. Exploratory Research Unlocks Product Potential. Natural Products Insider Website. April 28, 2011. Available at: http://www.naturalproductsinsider.com/articles/2011/04/exploratory-research-unlocks-product-potential.aspx. Accessed on June 28, 2011.



2. Why RCTs are Key to Substantiating Claims
   
   Richards, L. Why RCTs are Key to Substantiating Claims. Natural Products Insider Website. January 2011. Available at: http://www.naturalproductsinsider.com/articles/2011/01/why-rcts-are-key-to-substantiating-claims.aspx#. Accessed on January 27, 2011.
   
   Investing in randomized, controlled trials can yield not only solid substantiation for development of health and structure/function claims, but also provide a competitive positioning while staying within regulatory guidelines.



3. Clinical Trials and Ethics - Questions and Answers
   
   Protection of subjects enrolled in a clinical trial and other ethical considerations are the concern of the Institutional Review Board (IRB). Each site of a clinical trial must have access to an IRB and all sponsors must comply with the any conditions set forth by that IRB. The following discussion explains what an IRB is and how it works.



4. The Value of Exploratory Research
   
   Richards, L. The Value of Exploratory Research. Natural Products Insider Website. 2010. Available at: http://www.naturalproductsinsider.com/articles/2010/10/the-value-of-exploratory-research.aspx. Accessed on October 19, 2010.
   
   The expense of clinical research can be quite daunting to natural product companies, but conducting exploratory research can provide early human and efficacy data, while minimizing expenditures and complications of subsequent clinical studies. In this article, NMR details the importance, advantages, and methods involved with conducting exploratory human research.



5. The Basic Design and Structure of a Clinical Trial
   
   This article reviews the basic design and structure of a clinical trial.



6. Clinical Research: Why Bother?
   
   This article gives a general overview of clinical research, its benefits and the reasoning behind performing such research.



7. Brand Savvy: In tough economic times, branded products can stay competitive
   
   Richards, L. Brand Savvy: In tough economic times, branded products can stay competitive. Nutritional Outlook website. 2010. Available at: http://www.nutritionaloutlook.com/article.php?ArticleID=2354. Accessed February 17, 2010.
   
   In light of the current recession, consumers may be looking for smarter, budget-friendly ways to pursue healthcare. A 2009 online survey conducted by the Council of Responsible Nutrition (Washington, DC) revealed that the purchasing loyalty of some dietary supplement users has changed due to cost-cutting. As with many other types of purchases, consumers may be switching to lower cost dietary products. While this may sound alarming to companies selling brand-name dietary products, these marketers should also realize that there is opportunity to win customer loyalty. Companies looking to win loyalty and gain competitive edge must be able to meet evolving needs by continuously presenting evidence that substantiates product value.



8. Using Evidence to Build the Ingredient Story.
   
   Ie: Richards, L. Using Evidence to Build the Ingredient Story. Natural Products Insider [serial online]. 2010 15(1):66-67. Available from: Digital Natural Products Insider. Accessed February 16, 2010.
   Developing clinical substantiation behind a marketing story, particularly for a condition-specific nutraceutical ingredient, helps build trust among consumers, and leads to market differentiation and further awareness.



9. Proprietary Research: Bringing Nutraceuticals to the Next Level - Conducting product- or ingredient-specific research is crucial to the long term success of this market.
   
   This article discusses why third party data cannot be used solely to substantiate novel combination products and why it is important to conduct proprietary research utilizing in vitro laboratory studies and in vivo human clinical studies to adequately substantiate efficacy and safety.
   
   Richards, L, Spielholz, C. Proprietary Research: Bringing Nutraceuticals to the Next Level - Conducting product- or ingredient-specific research is crucial to the long term success of this market. Nutraceuticals World Website. 2009. Available at: http://www.nutraceuticalsworld.com/contents/view/14187. Accessed February 16, 2010.



10. The Role of Evidence in Establishing Awareness for Branded Ingredients.
    
    This article discusses why having scientific evidence is so important for establishing brand awareness and long-term sustainability and how clinical research opens up co-branding opportunities between finished product and ingredient companies.



11. The Value of Conducting Post-Marketing Clinical Research On Marketing Strategy Development.
    
    Marketing executives in the pharmaceutical industry acknowledge the importance of post-marketing clinical research studies to further assess product safety, tolerability and efficacy during real-time use. In addition, post-marketing clinical research can be helpful in developing marketing strategies for a product. Post-marketing clinical research (also known as Phase IV testing) gives insight into all kinds of questions, concerns and issues raised by the Food and Drug Administration, but it may also reveal new indications and new markets for which the drug product had not been initially approved. Just as Phase IV research is used for conventional pharmaceutical products, it can be an equally important phase of research for natural products including nutraceuticals, botanicals and dietary supplements.



12. India and China: Emerging Clinical Sites: This helpful presentation discusses how many contract research organizations (CROs) are utilizing clinical trial sites abroad and the benefits and risks of performing clinical research in India and China in particular.