Chemistry Professor and Alumna Published

Dr. Helen Boylan, Wesmtinster College associate professor of chemistry, and Mallory Strickland, a 2008 Westminster graduate, have been published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine.

The manuscript for "Using Enzyme Folding to Explore the Mechanism of Therapeutic Touch: A Feasibility Study" is based on Strickland's Honors thesis. The goal of the research was to design a novel model using protein folding to study therapeutic touch, a non-contact form of energy-manipulation healing. The conclusion was that more research is needed to assess the underlying mechanism of therapeutic touch to complement existing studies.

"Mallory came up with the concept for this project entirely on her own," Boylan said. "It is a novel idea that integrates theories of biochemistry with the practice of alternative medicine known as therapeutic touch. The results of this study neither confirm nor invalidate the benefits of therapeutic touch. Rather, this work develops a model for studying the mechanism of therapeutic touch."

Stickland, who majored in biochemistry, is a third-year student at Drexel University College of Medicine in Philadelphia.

Boylan, a 1995 Westminster graduate, earned a Ph.D. from Duquesne University and joined the Westminster faculty in 2001.

Contact Boylan at (724) 946-6293 or e-mail boylanhm@westminster.edu for additional information.

Dr. Helen Boylan (l) and Mallory Strickland