The World Chiropractic Alliance (WCA) presented its annual Chiropractic Awards to four individuals who, in the words of WCA President Terry A. Rondberg, D.C., "are making exceptional contributions to the profession and serving as role models for all of us."

Humanitarian of the Year: Matthew McCoy, D.C.

How many doctors of chiropractic could -- or would -- leave their home and practice for a full year in order to volunteer to bring chiropractic to a foreign land? Obviously, any doctor willing to make that kind of commitment must be motivated by a tremendous love of chiropractic and for the people it serves.

Such a doctor is Matthew McCoy, who is now living in small city in Far Eastern Russia, beginning his one-year mission to establish a chiropractic clinic in that region.

"I'm humbled by the realization that I am the only chiropractor in a region with eight million people. The responsibility this poses is one of many challenges," he states in his regular "Outcome Assessment" column this month.

Those who know Dr. McCoy are confident that he is up to that challenge, as well as the many other challenges which will face him as he takes a giant step forward for chiropractic.

"It's easy to see how much the chiropractic profession will gain from expansion to Russia and all areas of Eastern Europe," states Dr. Rondberg. "Dr. McCoy knows this as well. But he also knows how much it can mean to the Russian people to finally have access to the life-enhancing benefits of chiropractic. He's given up a year of his life to help us ... and them."

McCoy, is a 1989 graduate of Life College and a private practitioner from Florida who has extensive postgraduate education, including training in Upper Cervical Specific Technique, Acquired Immuno-Deficiency Syndrome, and Outcome Assessment.

He serves as a board member of the Council on Chiropractic Practice, and is a contributing editor for The Chiropractic Journal.

Chiropractor of the Year: Jeffrey Shay, D.C.

Since we live in an information age, it is only fitting that the WCA "Chiropractor of the Year" award be given to a doctor who has worked tirelessly to provide information to his colleagues around the world.

Known as much for his honesty and good humor as for his expertise in insurance and Medicare issues, Dr. Jeffrey Shay is one of the most popular and respected contributing editors in The Chiropractic Journal.

"Dr. Shay probably gets more 'fan mail' around here than any other columnist," Rondberg notes. "Doctors know that his information is important and applies to them regardless of how they view chiropractic. Furthermore, he has an uncanny ability to relate that information in an interesting way. Few other chiropractic writers can elicit the range of emotions that Jeff can. Read one sentence in his column, and you want to laugh, read the next and you want to scream with anger at a system which hasn't worked for years."

Shay, a graduate of Palmer College of Chiropractic was intensively involved with Medicare issues in his home state of Iowa. For the past seven years, he has written the "Medicare" column for The Chiropractic Journal.

As readers learned last month, his column was indirectly a positive result of having been audited.

"No chiropractic official at any level offered any help or advice," he wrote. "At that time, I promised myself that I would make as much information as possible available to other doctors who found themselves in the same position that I did."

Shay feels that doctors need to have access to information, particularly about the changing status of Medicare. "I have always felt that chiropractors could meet standards imposed by government or insurance companies if they only had adequate information," he stated. "Most of all, I realized that no one deserves to be alone."

Researcher of the Year: Donald M. Epstein, D.C.

Today, the role of chiropractic research is perhaps more important than at any time in chiropractic history. Finally, we are being given opportunities to conduct credible research projects and share them with the entire health care community via respected research journals.

Dr. Donald M. Epstein's vision has inspired and supported the formation of a colloquium of researchers, both inside and outside the chiropractic profession, to engage in study and scholarly exchange in areas related to vertebral subluxation in general, and Network Spinal Analysis specifically.

This endeavor involves academicians from a wide variety of disciplines, all associated with major U.S. and foreign universities. These scholars bring expertise in chiropractic sciences, neuroanatomy, physiology, biochemistry, physics, non-linear mathematics, sociology, anthropology, psychology, and eastern and western medicine.

Inspired by Epstein's work, the investigative techniques employed by the researchers encompass the latest state-of-the-art, non-invasive approaches, including conventional and functional magnetic resonance imaging to study changes in brain activity following chiropractic adjustments.

Other studies have involved quality of life assessment linked to the correction of vertebral subluxation. The outcomes of this research -- assessed in harmony with concepts in sociology, anthropology and psychology -- will shed light on the impact of the vertebral subluxation on human culture and behavior, and create physiologic and conceptual models which can enhance all healing arts.

Realizing much remains to be done, Epstein's innovative approach has integrated the chiropractic modem of vertebral subluxation into the lexicon of other disciplines and established him as a visionary moving ideas into the realm of reality.

"We are approaching a time when chiropractic research will be reviewed on an equal footing with medical research," states Rondberg. "How quickly that time arrives will depend in great part on the reputation and quality of our chiropractic researchers. Our profession could do not better than to be represented by researchers of the calibre of Dr. Donald. M. Epstein."

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The World Chiropractic Alliance congratulates all winners of this year's WCA Chiropractic Awards and applauds them for their dedication to the principles and practice of chiropractic.