The driving force behind the Visual History Project is to preserve the intellectual heritage of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Integrative Medicine through the video documentation of the life-changing experiences and wisdom shared by the pioneers of integrative medicine and leading figures in China. Since 2005, our video documentation team has made multiple trips to China to conduct interviews and site visits. To date, we have interviewed 66 individuals, which resulted in over 150 hours of video footage.

Our interviews include some of the most prominent individuals and encompass a broad range of expertise. These include:

• Acupuncture (Han Jisheng, Cao Xiaoding, Cheng Jieshi, Xin Yuling, Wu Gengcheng, Huang xianming);
• Blood Stasis (Chen Keji, Li Lianda, Shi Zaixiang, Wang Jie, Shi Dazhuo, Liao Fulong);
• Cancer (Yu Erxin, iu Luming, Ling Changquan, Lin Yi);
• Herbal research (Jiang Tingliang, Tu Youyou, Huang Luqi);
• Surgery (Xin Yuling, Ruan Xinmin, Wu Mengchao,);
• Cardiology (Chen Keji, Shi Zaixiang, Shi Dazhou, Wang Jie, Fan Weihu, Ou Ming);
• Ob-Gyn(Yu Jin);
• Dermatology (Qin Wanzhang);
• Nephrology (Lu Junjian);
• Geriatrics (Zhao Weikang, Wang Wenjian, Shen Ziyin, Chen Keji);
• Leaders (Chen Keji, Chen Shikui, Cao Hongxin, Lv Yubo, Chen Kaixian);
• Liver diseases(Liu Ping, Wu Mengchao, ing Changquan); and
• Basic theory (Li En, Shen Ziyin, Wang Wenjian, Han Jisheng, Cao Xiaoding, Cheng Jieshi, Wu Weikang).

Our next steps include completing the video documentation of the few remaining and aging pioneers before they fade away. Our focus in the next phase will shift toward the organization and dissemination of the archival footage. Our goal is to make digital files organized and searchable by topics and individuals, and make these available at the library and through the internet. Abstracts and highlights will be selected and edited for posting on the Web Portal www.exploreim.ucla.edu for viewing by the public at large.

The Center hosted a satellite conference to announce the formal launching of our Visual History Project during the Third World Integrative Medicine Congress in Guangzhou, China on September 23, 2007. We also interviewed a number of the pioneers of integrative East-West medicine and their protégés who attended the Congress.