Background

On a cold January day in 2005, 20 stakeholders from Canada and abroad met in Ottawa to discuss homeopathic medicine research priorities. For two days, the group met and identified key areas in homeopathy research, ranked a list of priority areas, and developed a list of recommendations on the best ways to move forward. The workshop was sponsored by the Natural Health Products Research Program at the Natural Health Products Directorate of Health Canada. The report of this consultation can be found at www.hc-sc.gc.ca/sr-sr/pubs/nhp/hom_fin-eng.php

This was the beginning of the Homeopathic Research Network of Canada (HomeoNet).

Armed with some good ideas, a multidisciplinary group which included homeopaths, naturopaths, medical doctors, academics, and members of the homeopathic pharmaceutical industry put together a proposal to form a research network in homeopathic medicine. This group identified the need to build research capacity in the field of homeopathic medicine in Canada. Seeing as very little research was being conducted in Canada, a research network which can build collaboration across disciplines seemed the most effective way to nourish a burgeoning community.

The network proposal was supported in the fall of 2007 by the Lotte and John Hecht Memorial Foundation and began its work that October.

HomeoNet continues to fulfill its mandate of fostering the development of a research community in homeopathic medicine, and to promote and support high quality homeopathic research in Canada.