The acronym says it plainly: CAIRN, the Center for Advanced Integrated Research in Nepal. Kathmandu was the centre, and the point of the whole undertaking was there — to bring Tibetan medicine, Tsa-rLung healing and Himalayan applied psychology into a curriculum recognised by European universities, at doctoral level, at a time when few institutions on either side were attempting it.
Kathmandu and the institutional base
The affiliation page describes CAIRN as a non-profit organisation and provider of higher education and training, affiliated with St Xavier's Social Services and St Xavier's Campus in Kathmandu. The member-status list of the regulations places the consortium itself under Nepal, with William R. Leon as EXE/FO and Fr. B. Robins SJ as EXE/FO and Nepal Regional Head, and records advisory and consultant members drawn from Nepalese institutions: Prof. R. P. Gartoulla of NIHS for ethnomedicine and doctoral supervision, and a coordination desk in Kathmandu (CAIRN-2008-MOU).
Tibetan medicine and Himalayan traditions
The same list records directors and practitioners of Tibetan medicine in Kathmandu under the consultant statuses: Amchi Jampa for Kailash, Amchi T. Pedon for Kunphen, Amchi T. Wangpo, and a Tibetan doctor for primary health care. Among advisory members it names Namgyal Rimpoche for Dharma philosophy and Tsa-rLung healing, and Matthieu Ricard of Shechen. The programme headings on the pages speak of comparative research in Himalayan and Keltic traditional healing, cultural immersion, Tibetan materia medica and Tibetan psychology training.
Comparative research in Himalayan and Keltic traditional healing, cultural immersion, Tibetan materia medica and Tibetan psychology: this is the curriculum the consortium set out, taught from Kathmandu by practitioners named in its own regulations.
Kathmandu in the correspondence
Kathmandu recurs in the private letters as the place from which Leon worked. In February 2018 he writes that he will study, edit and give feedback on Paret's material once there, and asks him to keep sending it (MAIL-2018-02-06-COLLAB). It is the last catalogued exchange in the archive, and it runs between Kathmandu and Nice.
Avalon / Verdon — CAIRN page (2009)
Describes CAIRN as a non-profit organisation and higher-education and training provider, and names the ISI-CNV Institute in Nice among the affiliated institutions.
Internet Archive capture · original URL: https://avalon-verdon.tripod.com/index2009.html (offline since 24 April 2026)
CAIRN MoU / Upgraded Regulations
Defines the consortium by Memorandum of Understanding, sets out committees and member statuses, and lists ISI-CNV / Marco Paret as EXE/FO.
Internet Archive capture · original URL: https://cairn-alliance.tripod.com/protocole.html (offline since 24 April 2026)
W. R. Leon to M. Paret — study, editing, feedback
Leon writes that he will study, edit and give feedback on Paret's material once in Kathmandu, and asks him to keep sending it.
private archive, internal reference 1616bec07a1712a8