Placebo and Nocebo Effects:

Developing a Research Agenda

Sponsored by the National Institutes of Health,
the American Health Foundation, and
The Institute for Science and Public Policy

December 2-4, 1996

National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD

Dr. Wayne Jonas of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Ernst Wynder of the American Health Foundation, and Dr. George L. Carlo of The Institute for Science and Public Policy are hosting a three-day conference to develop a research agenda that addresses the scientific and medical issues surrounding the placebo phenomenon. Each of the host organizations will bring to the conference an area of expertise that will facilitate a comprehensive evaluation of the placebo phenomenon.

The first day of the conference will be dedicated to presentations given by experts in the research, medical, epidemiological, legal, and regulatory disciplines that will include discussions on placebo research and how it pertains to:

The second and third days of the conference will be devoted to drafting the research agenda. The conference attendees will meet separately based on their areas of expertise to concentrate on identifying placebo research that is needed in the scientific and medical areas. The resulting research agenda will follow rigorous scientific principles and will be subject to intensive scientific peer review. Three framing questions will be used to guide the development of this comprehensive and rigorous research program upon which research, medical, health, and policy decisions will be based. The three framing questions are as follows:

1. What are the clinical parameters that influence placebo?
2. What are the mechanisms/correlates that influence placebo?
3. What are the methodological issues that influence the study of placebo?

This three-day conference will provide leading academicians and professionals an opportunity for an interdisciplinary assessment of the research necessary to better understand the causes and effects of the placebo phenomenon.

The Institute for Science and Public Policy. No part of the information may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without indicating The Institute for Science and Public Policy copyright notice and that the copies are not used in any way that implies The Institute for Science and Public Policy endorsement of a product or service.