As a licensed acupuncturist, educator and researcher, and having practiced for over 30 years, Dr. Lao is a well-known researcher in the acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine field. He was the principal investigator and co-investigator of over 20 clinical trials and pre-clinical studies in acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicines, which were funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Department of Defense (DoD), USA and Health and Medical Research Fund (HMRF), Hong Kong. He has actively published about 300 journal articles and 20 book chapters. Widely recognized for his unique contributions to acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine research and research methodology, he has been invited to give over 300 presentations at local, national and international conferences.

Dr. Lao served as a Board member on the Maryland State Board of Acupuncture for five years. In 2009, he was the Editor in Chief at the American Acupuncturist, American Association of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (AAAOM). In 2010, he started his position as the Editor of the Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine (ECAM), where he stayed until 2020. As of right now, Dr. Lao is the Editor in Chief for the Journal of Integrative Medicine. He is also a board member of the Society for Acupuncture Research (SAR) after serving as the co-president for five years since 2003.

Dr. Lao was awarded for outstanding service to the acupuncture and Oriental medicine profession in the field of research and to the community at-large by the AOM Alliance in 2004. He was also awarded a Qi-Huang International Award by the China Association of Chinese Medicine in 2015, and a Chief Executive’s Commendation for his serve in Chinese medicine development in Hong Kong by the Hong Kong government in 2019.