The NCMIC Foundation has named five winners of the 2026 George P. and Jerome F. McAndrews Memorial Research Fund Award and one Pioneer Memorial Research Award winner.

Posted in Press Releases on Tuesday, March 31, 2026

The NCMIC Foundation has named five individuals as the 2026 winners of the George P. and Jerome F. McAndrews Memorial Research Fund Award. The awards were presented to Drs. Victoria A. Bensel, Ryan R. Burdick, Wren M. Burton, Kelsey L. Corcoran, and Sarah E. Graham at the Association of Chiropractic Colleges Educational and Research Agenda Conference (ACC-RAC), held March 26-28, at the Kansas City Marriott Downtown in Kansas City, Missouri.

The George P. and Jerome F. McAndrews Memorial Research Fund Award was created by the NCMIC Foundation to honor the McAndrews brothers’ longtime support of the scientific and practical advancement of the study of chiropractic. It provides a worthy research recipient who has demonstrated exceptional ability to:

• Advance research and the exchange of scientific information
• Promote high ethical standards in research and/or practice
• Contribute to practical applications to chiropractic practice
• Interact professionally with other individuals and groups involved in relevant research and application

The George P. McAndrews, J.D. and Jerome F. McAndrews, D.C. Pioneer Memorial Research Award recognizes veteran researchers who have left a mark on the chiropractic profession through their research. This year’s winner is Dr. David Eisenberg.

Wayne Wolfson, president of NCMIC, praised Drs. Eisenberg, Bensel, Burdick, Burton, Corcoran, and Graham as exemplary leaders in their respective fields, noting that each has made meaningful contributions to advancing chiropractic care.

“Chiropractic continues to grow because of the dedication and perseverance of professionals like these,” Wolfson said. “Their commitment helps strengthen the profession, support ongoing innovation, and reinforce chiropractic’s role as an essential part of modern health care. The NCMIC Foundation is honored to present them with the McAndrews Award and to welcome them into a distinguished group of past recipients.”

David Eisenberg, MD, is Director of Culinary Nutrition and Adjunct Associate Professor, Department of Nutrition, at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. He is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Medical School. In 1979, David was selected as the first exchange medical student from the U.S. to the People’s Republic of China. From 2000-2010, Dr. Eisenberg served as the Bernard Osher Distinguished Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, founding director of the Osher Research Center and the founding chief of the Division for Research and Education in Complementary and Integrative Medical Therapies at Harvard Medical School. He simultaneously served as the director of the Program in Integrative Medicine at the Brigham & Women’s Hospital.

He has directed the annual Harvard Chan School of Public Health-Culinary Institute of America conference, “Healthy Kitchens, Healthy Lives” since 2006. In 2015 Dr. Eisenberg founded the Teaching Kitchen Collaborative, a network of 81 organizations with teaching kitchens, intended to evaluate best practices relating to nutrition, culinary and lifestyle education. He served as the Founding Executive Director of the Teaching Kitchen Collaborative and is now its Senior Advisor. He has been an advisor to the US National Institutes of Health, the National Board of Medical Examiners, and the US Department of Health and Human Services. As the son and grandson of professional bakers, David aspires to synergize the culinary and medical communities to enhance human and planetary health.

Victoria A. Bensel, DC, MS, MPH, is a public health policy professional and Doctor of Chiropractic based in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota. She recently completed the IMPAACT Fellowship (the Innovations in Musculoskeletal Pain Administration, Analytics, and Care Training program) a two-year post-doctoral fellowship through the Yale School of Medicine and VA Connecticut Healthcare System, concurrently earning her Master of Public Health in Health Policy from the Yale School of Public Health. Dr. Bensel has served as an intern policy analyst for the Connecticut State Senate Drug Pricing Task Force and as a fellow at the Solomon Center for Health Law and Policy at Yale Law School.  She is dedicated to advancing the role of chiropractic care within broader public health policy and interprofessional health systems.

Ryan R. Burdick, DC, is an independent healthcare research consultant specializing in integrating clinical care pathways through thoughtful public policy and research. Previously, he worked within the Office of Healthcare Financing for the state of Maryland, focusing on Medicaid and healthcare transformation initiatives. He earned his Doctor of Chiropractic degree from Cleveland University-Kansas City and completed the IMPAACT Fellowship at Yale University School of Medicine, where he examined the impact of musculoskeletal disorders on health systems, particularly within the Veteran population.

Dr. Wren Burton is a postdoctoral research fellow at the Osher Center for Integrative Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. She completed her BSc in exercise science at the University of New England in 2017 and her chiropractic education at Palmer College of Chiropractic’s West Campus in 2020. Additionally, she completed postdoctoral fellowship training in Integrative Medicine at Harvard Medical School and a Masters in Public Health in Clinical Effectiveness from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in 2023.

Her current research work emphasizes the intersection of nonpharmacologic pain management and healthy aging, specifically operationalizing novel care models to increase access to care. She is a T90 Interdisciplinary Research Training Award recipient from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke of the US National Institutes of Health. Review a complete overview of her education, employment, and publications here. 

Kelsey L. Corcoran, DC, is a Senior Research Scientist at the Center for Gerontology and Healthcare Research at the Brown University School of Public Health. Trained as a chiropractor and in clinical informatics and healthcare operations, Dr. Corcoran conducts rigorous pharmacoepidemiologic and health services research aimed at optimizing healthcare delivery for older adults. Her work integrates clinical insight with large-scale health data to evaluate how healthcare systems, policies, and treatment approaches influence outcomes.

Dr. Corcoran’s research focuses on improving care for older adults with complex health needs, including those receiving post-acute and rehabilitative care. She studies the impact of polypharmacy in aging populations, with particular emphasis on prescribing cascades, opportunities for deprescribing, drug–drug interactions, and optimizing medication regimens to support successful participation in rehabilitation.

Dr. Corcoran completed postdoctoral training in clinical informatics at the Yale School of Medicine, an experience supported by the NCMIC Foundation, whose commitment to advancing research and education in nonpharmacologic care helped shape her career. She also completed a chiropractic residency in integrative clinical practice at the Veterans Affairs Western New York Healthcare System and earned her Doctor of Chiropractic degree from the University of Western States.

Her work has been published in high-impact peer-reviewed journals, including JAMA Health Forum, Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, and Pain Medicine, reflecting her contributions to advancing the evidence base on healthcare delivery and optimizing outcomes for older adults. Through her research, Dr. Corcoran aims to inform policies and clinical practices that enhance care delivery, reduce unnecessary medication burden, and support healthy aging.

Sarah E. Graham, DC, MPH, is a Strategy and Policy Manager serving the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. She currently works in the Office of the Secretary at the Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services, where she manages cross-agency policy initiatives and strategic priorities impacting millions of residents across the state’s health and human services system.

Dr. Graham began her career as a practicing chiropractor, providing patient care in a variety of clinical settings in the United States and internationally, including work with medically complex and underserved populations. Her clinical background informs her approach to health policy, with a focus on improving access to care and strengthening systems that support patient health and well-being.

During this time, she completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Yale, leading multidisciplinary teams conducting large-scale health services research projects within the Veterans Health Administration. As part of her fellowship, she earned a Master of Public Health in Health Policy from Yale University, where she conducted research on non-pharmacologic pain management and health system innovation.

Today, Dr. Graham brings together clinical experience, research expertise, and public service to advance policy initiatives across Massachusetts’ health and human services agencies, helping shape programs and strategies that improve care delivery and support vulnerable populations.

Originally from St. Louis, Missouri, Sarah now lives in Boston with her husband, Connor, and their newborn daughter, Maeve.