Dr. Jerrilyn Cambron is the recipient of the 2023 Massage Therapy Foundation’s Distinguished Service Award. She has been engaged in the world of complementary and integrative health for over 30 years and has worked closely with the Massage Therapy Foundation for much of her career. She was integral in the development of the first iteration of MassageNet in 2009; and although she is no longer involved in its operation, her legacy influences the goals of MassageNet today.
Dr. Cambron graduated from chiropractic school in 1991, where she was initially exposed to evidence-based research. She worked as a research assistant throughout her training, but she had no plans to make research her career. After graduating, she was practicing in a chiropractic clinic when she received a call from her school asking her if she would be interested in a research faculty position. She accepted and never looked back.
While engaging in chiropractic research, Dr. Cambron realized that aligning her research with massage therapy would help strengthen some of the chiropractic solutions. It became clear that the body of research in massage therapy was far from extensive. She and a colleague did a small study involving massage therapy, which was well-received upon publication. In order to make herself a more educated researcher with a more poised perspective, Dr. Cambron started training as a massage therapist. She became involved with the Massage Therapy Foundation, recognizing that the Foundation’s goals involving research, education, and community service resonated closely with her own. Dr. Cambron is no longer directly involved in research or teaching, as she currently works in education administration, yet aspires to continue volunteering with the Massage Therapy Foundation even through retirement.
Dr. Cambron’s understanding that research is essential to the advancement of massage therapy influences MassageNet’s goal of involving massage clinicians in research. She believes that the way to ensure the growth of the field of massage therapy is through learning more about what treatments help people. An important part of this is to include real-world practices, clinicians, and clients. These ideas are part of what will strongly connect MassageNet, massage therapy, and massage therapists into the future of healthcare.