http://www.weilfoundation.com/news.htmThe Weil Foundation began substantial grant-making in 2005. See Guidelines for Weil Foundation Support for more information.
The Weil Foundation intends to raise at least $10 million over the next five years. The principal donor is Andrew Weil, M.D., who has pledged his after-tax profits from the sale of Weil Lifestyle, LLC, retail products. Among other donors to the Foundation are individuals, corporations, and foundations who believe in the promise of integrative medicine.
The Weil Foundation board of directors and expert advisors are developing the grant-making program. Information about specific priorities and initiatives will be provided on the Foundation website.
The Weil Foundation Makes Four Inaugural Grants to Advance Integrative Medicine
The Board of Directors of the Weil Foundation announced on October 10 that it had awarded $60,000 in grants for training and education in integrative medicine. Three grants were made to university programs and teaching hospitals, the fourth to a national botanical organization. These are the first grants made by the Weil Foundation.
?We are pleased to be able to provide this support to four outstanding organizations,? said Andrew T. Weil, M.D., chairman of the Foundation board. ?Their pioneering work will help to create a health care system that fully recognizes the natural healing capacity of human beings, emphasizes prevention above treatment, ensures appropriate use of both conventional and alternative therapies, and makes doctors and patients true working partners.?
The Program in Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona, Tucson, received $30,000 to develop an on-line educational module for physicians and pharmacists in botanical medicine and women?s health. A pioneer in using on-line assets for distance learning for health professionals in integrative medicine, the Program intends this module to provide physicians and pharmacists with a sound basis in science for advising patients about the safety, efficacy, and uses of botanical preparations for conditions commonly presented by women.
http://www.integrativemedicine.arizona.edu The Maine Medical Center Family Practice Residency Program (Portland, Maine) received $15,000 to continue the pilot implementation of its combined family medicine residency and integrative medicine fellowship.
http://www.mmc.org The Oregon Health and Science University Family Medicine Residency Program (Portland, Oregon) received $10,000 in support of its Integrative Family Medicine Fellowship.
http://www.oshu.edu The American Botanical Council (Austin, Texas) received $5,000 toward the cost of completing an interactive on-line database of 130 common herbs used for skin and body care and for the development of other information resources. The Council is the leading non-profit organization conducting research and education about the responsible use of herbs and phytomedicines.
http://www.herbalgram.org The grants for three programs at medical schools and teaching hospitals are designed to spur progress toward the inclusion of integrative training in approved medical residencies. In 2004, the Family Medicine Residency Review Committee of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education approved an experimental initiative in which selected institutions may distribute the three years of a family medicine residency over four years, in order to accommodate an additional, combined year of training in integrative medicine. One Weil Foundation grant supports the Program in Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona, the foremost center for the training of health professionals in integrative medicine and a lead partner in the initiative. Other grants support the family medicine residency initiative at the Maine Medical Center and the Oregon Health and Science University.
According to Victoria Maizes, M.D., executive director of the Program in Integrative Medicine, ?The family medicine residency initiative is particularly significant because for the first time the comprehensive curriculum in integrative medicine has been brought into the conventional training of physicians.?
?These grants respond to the urgent need for training and public education in integrative medicine,? said Weil Foundation President Woodward Wickham in announcing the grants. ?Most patients today use alternative and complementary therapies, but most medical school graduates report that their training in these therapies is inadequate. Patients do not typically inform their physicians that they use these approaches,? Wickham said. ?As more and more health professionals reach out for sound information and training in integrative medicine, the Weil Foundation hopes to help ensure that they will be available.?
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The Weil Foundation Names Woodward A. Wickham President
A 12-year veteran of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation (Chicago, IL), one of the nation?s 10 largest, has been named president of the Weil Foundation.
Woodward A. Wickham, who retired from the MacArthur Foundation in 2003 as vice president and senior program advisor, was a consultant to the Weil Foundation in 2004 as it was being organized. He is its first president and serves part-time.
In making the announcement, founder and board chairman Andrew T. Weil, M.D said: ?The Weil Foundation has been established to help ensure that the promise of integrative medicine is realized. As head of the foundation, Woody Wickham brings broad experience and a deep personal commitment to its mission. I am delighted that he has joined us.?
Wickham was previously senior vice president at the New York marketing and communications firm Jan Krukowski Associates; director of development at Hampshire College (Amherst, MA), and a Fellow of the Institute of World Affairs.
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