Karen Seal, MD

Karen H. Seal, MD, is the Chief of Integrative Health at the San Francisco VA Health Care System (SFVAHCS) and a Professor of Medicine and Psychiatry at UCSF. A general internist and integrative medicine physician, Dr. Seal has dedicated her career to developing, testing, and implementing behavioral and complementary integrative health interventions for chronic pain, opioid dependency, and PTSD among veterans. She has spearheaded the establishment of several interdisciplinary clinics at SFVAHCS, including the post-9/11 Integrated Care Clinic for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, the Integrated Pain Team Clinic, and the Integrative Health and Wellness Clinic, all based on the VA Whole Health model.

Dr. Seal has served as Principal Investigator for numerous VA-, NIH-, PCORI-, and DoD-funded pragmatic trials and has authored nearly 160 publications on topics such as chronic pain, PTSD, prescription opioid use, and COVID-19 prevention. As Chair of the Whole Health Advisory Committee at SFVAHCS, she oversees the implementation of Whole Health programs across the San Francisco VA healthcare system. Additionally, as a senior member of the 3DI Center of Innovation, and in collaboration with the UCSF Osher Center, Dr. Seal mentors junior investigators in their research projects in Whole Health and Integrative Health.