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Curriculum Vitae: Dr Hugh MacPherson

Membership of professional associations

Non-executive appointments

Peer reviews provided for

Acupuncture in Medicine
British Medical Journal
BioMed Central: Anaesthesiology
BioMed Central: Complementary and Alternative Medicine
Complementary Therapies in Medicine
Journal of Alternative & Complementary Medicine
Statistics in Medicine

Employment history

1983 – present          Professional acupuncturist, York

Qualified in 1983 and joined the Register for Traditional Chinese Medicine, a professional association that merged with others to form he British Acupucnture Council in 1995.

1986 – present         Clinic Director, York Clinic for Complementary Medicine 

Trained in London and China as an acupuncturist and herbalist. Set up in practice in York in 1983. Became proprietor and Clinic Director for the York Clinic for Complementary Medicine in 1986. Continue in this role part-time, treating patients and managing the clinic. This includes supporting and monitoring 20 practitioners of complementary medicine, including acupuncturists, osteopaths, herbalists, chiropractors, and practitioners of several other complementary medical disciplines.

1988 - 1997             Principal, Northern College of Acupuncture, York 

Founded the Northern College of Acupuncture in 1988 and was Principal for the first 10 years. In this time established the College as a centre of excellence for acupuncture in the North of England. The College runs a three year professional training in acupuncture and a three year part-time programme in Chinese herbal medicine. Achieved university validation of the acupuncture programme, which became the first degree course in acupuncture (at Masters level) in the UK. Also in 1996 the Northern College was the first college to attain professional accreditation with the British Acupuncture Accreditation Board. From 1998 to 2003 I supported the College in the non-executive role of Honorary President.  

1997 - present         Research Director, Foundation for Traditional Chinese Medicine, York 

Founded the Foundation, a registered charity, in 1991 and was Chair of Trustees until 1998. In 1997 became part-time Research Director, a chief executive role heading the organisation. Have been chief fund-raiser for the Foundation from the outset, as well as designing and implementing a range of research projects. Major projects include evaluating acupuncture for low back pain with Professor Kate Thomas then of the University of Sheffield. Co-edited a book with Ted Kaptchuk from Harvard University.

2003 - present         Senior Research Fellow, Department of Health Sciences, University of York 

Post funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) with a Career Scientist Award [see press release] with a focus on research into acupuncture for chronic pain in primary care. He heads a complementary medicine research group with projects that cover other conditions treated by acupuncture including depression, irritable bowel syndrome, non-cardiac chest pain, chronic neck pain and osteoarthritis of the knee, as well as projects in Chinese herbal medicine, homeopathy and magnetic bracelets. I am supported in these projects by three PhD students and three Masters students. I am exploring the brain images associated with needling an acupuncture point on the hand and part of this project was recently filmed and broadcast by the BBC [see details].

University degrees

Publications - scientific and clinical articles

Recent presentations

Media and press

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