My reflections on the Harvard Medical School Conference
By Master Yang Yang, PhD
Dr. Yang at the Harvard Medical School podium, April 30, 2026.
Dear friends,
On April 30, our 2024 randomized controlled trial on virtually delivered Tai Chi, Qigong, and meditation for chronic low back pain — among the top-scoring submissions to the conference —was presented at The Science of Tai Chi and Qigong as Whole Person Health at Harvard Medical School. The trial, published in the North American Spine Society Journal, followed 350 adults across twelve weeks and demonstrated clinically and statistically significant improvement in pain-related disability, pain intensity, and overall quality of life, with statistically significant improvement in sleep quality.
The noon experiential session filled beyond capacity. After the 100 seats were taken, attendees stood. For 45 minutes, over 100 researchers, clinicians, and practitioners moved together through the foundational training — the same building blocks of stillness and movement many of you know from our weekly Saturday classes.
The experiential session for back pain filled beyond capacity.
Later that afternoon, the trial itself was presented to the conference’s research audience. Sharing this work at Harvard — among colleagues who have spent their careers bringing Tai Chi and Qigong into Western medicine — was a humbling milestone.
Presenting the 2024 trial to the conference’s research audience.
Kenneth Knapp, PhD — Principal Investigator, New York Medical College.
Our principal investigator, Dr. Ken Knapp, shepherded the study from start to publication — the steady hand behind a three-year effort.
Roger Härtl, MD, Hansen-MacDonald Endowed Professor of Neurological Surgery, Weill Cornell Medicine.
Our senior author, Dr. Härtl, championed this work from the beginning — without his vision and leadership, the study would not exist.
“Yang Yang combines deep traditional Tai Chi mastery with rigorous scientific training — a rare pairing. He led the 350-participant randomized controlled trial we published in the North American Spine Society Journal on virtual Tai Chi for chronic low back pain.”
— Roger Härtl, MD
Harvard was carried by many hands. PI Dr. Ken Knapp at New York Medical College, senior author Dr. Roger Härtl at Och Spine at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell, and lead statistician Dr. Sydne McCluskey anchored the work. Twenty authors in total, drawn from Weill Cornell Medicine, Mayo Clinic, New York Medical College, the National Cancer Institute, and seven other institutions, brought it to publication. Referring physicians from across the country sent their patients to us. Northwell Health's Employee Wellness program opened recruitment to thousands. Our CTQS supporting team kept the operations steady across twelve weeks. And the 350 participants themselves carried the practice, week after week, into their daily lives.
We've created a dedicated acknowledgments page on our website to honor everyone who made this work possible, with photos and names. The page will grow over the coming weeks. Please visit and read about the community whose work brought us to Harvard.
Our community at Harvard
Four members of the CTQS community joined us in Boston: Leigh Hanke, MD (Yale Medicine); David J. Mann, MD (Chicago); Stephanie Beukema, EdD (Cambridge); and Marcia Trenholm (Boston). Looking out into a Harvard Medical School audience and finding familiar faces from the practice community made the moment feel like home.
It was a gift to look out into a Harvard Medical School audience and find familiar faces from the practice community there with us.
What comes next
Harvard was a milestone, not a destination. Our live online Saturday classes continue, open to anyone living with back pain and other chronic conditions — and the community that has grown around these classes remains one of the most meaningful parts of this work. People become more than students; they become each other's quiet witnesses, each other's reminders that healing is possible. Learn more about the Saturday classes.
We are also beginning to lay groundwork for the next phase of research. As that work takes shape, we will share more in a future newsletter.
The larger project remains what it has always been: to bring evidence-based Tai Chi and Qigong into Western medicine and public health, as a complementary partner to clinical care. Harvard told us this work is needed. Our task is to keep building, and to keep practicing.
To support our next back pain study aiming for 600 participants, donate here.
Thank you, as always, for being part of it.
— Master Yang Yang, PhD
Read the full May newsletter here
Browse our newsletter archive here
If you would like to explore these principles in a guided setting, you are welcome to join our weekly classes or in-person training programs.
Explore our Live Online Saturday Spine Class (Fundamentals) → https://waqi.health/chronic-pain-relief
Learn more about our In-person Tai Chi & Qigong Summer Camps → https://wa-qi.com/2026-camps
© Master Yang Yang, PhD, May 13, 2026
