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Advancing the Science of Integrative Medicine
 Spotlight: The Bowes Fund for Innovative Research in Integrative Medicine
"Integrative Medicine holds the promise to reduce suffering and empower patients by offering non-invasive, cost effective techniques to slow disease progression and enhance one's quality of life.
This is the reason that my Foundation has made this gift to the UCSF Osher Center's Research Program. As the son of a physician and founder of a biomedical company, I know the importance of researching therapies that have the potential to relieve the suffering of many while simultaneously reducing the cost of healthcare.
Any new endeavor requires seed support to establish a solid foundation of pilot data and to support the training of the next generation of researchers.
The UCSF Osher Center Research Program is a leader in this new field.
Their team is currently investigating processes to slow the progression of HIV, diabetes, and cancer. I am pleased to support such a fine program."
-- William K. Bowes
The UCSF Osher Center would like to express its sincere thanks to the
William K. Bowes Foundation for its visionary support with a gift in the amount of $1.5 million to the UCSF Osher Center's Research Program.
If you would like more information about the UCSF Osher Center's Research Program, please contact: Maureen Smith. |
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Osher Center in the Community: Training the Next Generation of Researchers in Integrative Medicine
The UCSF Osher Center for Integrative Medicine is committed to searching for the most effective treatments for patients by combining modern medicine with established healing practices to address all aspects of health and wellness-biological, psychological, social, and spiritual.
The Center has three major programs: research, education, and patient care, all focused on integrative medicine. In the summer of 2007, the Osher Center initiated a new, federally funded program that overlaps all three of those areas: postdoctoral fellowships for training in clinical research in integrative medicine (TRIM). Trainees are hired for a three-year interdisciplinary program designed for physicians, behavioral and social scientists, and doctoral level integrative medicine practitioners. The program consists of required seminars and formal course work, individual mentoring, research and creative activity, elective seminars and classes, teaching, and a number of optional activities.
A New Generation of Research at the UCSF Osher Center
The goal of the TRIM fellowship is to train post-doctoral behavioral and social scientists, physicians, and other qualified health professionals to design and conduct rigorous clinical research in integrative medicine.
The UCSF Osher Center's TRIM Fellows have launched several promising new research projects. The following is a partial summary of their current work:
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Larissa G. Duncan, PhD, in her second year as a TRIM trainee, applied for and was awarded private foundation funding from the Mt. Zion Health Fund to support development of a mindfulness-enhanced version of the CenteringPregnancy model of group-based prenatal healthcare delivery for use as an integrative stress reduction intervention for vulnerable and medically underserved pregnant women.
Our research aims to evaluate not only whether treatments work, but how they work. Through these and other promising research projects, the Osher Center aims to advance the evaluation of integrative medicine approaches and the inclusion of effective approaches in medical care.
The more we are able to measure the physiological outcomes of integrative medicine treatments, the better we will be able to integrate these treatments with existing conventional care practices, thereby reducing suffering and healthcare costs for all.
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The Impact of Philanthropy on Healthcare Reform: A Real Difference You Can Make
"To do something, however small, to make others happier and better, is the highest ambition, the most elevating hope, which can inspire a human being."
-- John Lubbock
Philanthropy plays a very constructive role in healthcare reform. Individuals and foundations can partner with the UCSF Osher Center to bring promising new programs and initiatives to life.
Philanthropy is unique and can:
- Initiate new projects that are beyond the purview of government funding;
- Influence policy change by inspiring decision makers;
- Support the evaluation of promising new initiatives, laying the essential groundwork for future government funding;
- Create and underwrite model programs that have potential
for scaling up; and
- Respond to emergency need.
Philanthropy is central to the UCSF Osher Center’s role as an integrative healthcare leader that fulfills its charitable mission in research, education and patient care. Today, the Osher Center’s Community Care Fund is covering a substantial share of the healthcare costs for a growing number of uninsured and underinsured patients, and our research programs investigate non-invasive and cost effective treatment options.
As a non-profit, the Osher Center benefits the community by providing un-reimbursed costs of care for our most vulnerable patients, performing community outreach, and conducting innovative educational and research projects.
Through sound financial management and philanthropic support, the UCSF Osher Center also continuously invests in new research and education programs, new service lines, innovative health and technology applications, patient care facility renovations, and clinical excellence despite the challenges we currently face in healthcare.
Most integrative treatments are not (yet) covered by insurance. We also face declining federal, state, and private insurance reimbursement rates while costs of healthcare continue to escalate. At the end of the year, that capital will only go so far towards supporting our staff, updating equipment, improving facilities, and expanding important services. Through gifts to the UCSF Osher Center, our donors add significant resources to the bottom line to help us meet critical needs and, in an ever changing healthcare environment, these gifts are more important than ever before.
-- Maureen Smith
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Fundraising Progress
Friends of the UCSF Osher Center have an unprecedented opportunity to ensure the continued growth and
enrichment of the Center. Contributions to the Osher Center priorities are growing:
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