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The Weil Foundation began substantial grant-making in 2005.
See Guidelines for Weil Foundation Support for more information.
The Weil Foundation intends to raise $10 million over the next
ten years. The principal donor is Andrew Weil, M.D., who has
pledged his after-tax profits from the royalties from 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.
Recent Announcements
Dr. Weil Projected to Donate $450,000 Based on 2007 revenue
Weil Lifestyle LLC's licensing efforts began in 2004, and 2005 was the company's first profitable year. Dr. Weil's 2005 after-tax profits were $154,589, which he donated to the Weil Foundation in May 2006. In December 2006, Dr. Weil donated $366,070 to the Foundation, his after-tax profits for 2006. Projections are that Dr. Weil will donate $450,000 based on 2007 revenue.
The Weil Foundation makes grant to the Consortium of Academic Centers for Integrative Medicine
A grant of $30,000, the foundation's first in 2006, was awarded to
the Consortium of Academic Centers for Integrative Medicine. With a membership of 27
esteemed academic medical centers, the Consortium aims to help transform medicine and
healthcare through rigorous scientific studies, new models of clinical care, and innovative
educational programs that integrate biomedicine, the complexity of human beings, the intrinsic
nature of healing and the rich diversity of therapeutic systems
(www.imconsortium.org).
The Weil Foundation Makes Six Additional Grants to Advance Integrative Medicine
The Board of Directors of the Weil Foundation announced on May 7, 2007, that it had awarded $250,000 in grants in December 2006 for training and education in integrative medicine. Five grants were made to university programs and teaching hospitals, the sixth to a national botanical organization.
“We are pleased to be able to provide this support
to six 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 $200,000 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. www.integrativemedicine.arizona.edu
The Maine Medical Center Family Practice Residency
Program (Portland, Maine) received $20,000 to continue
the pilot implementation of its combined family medicine residency
and integrative medicine fellowship. www.mmc.org
The Oregon Health and Science University Family Medicine
Residency Program (Portland, Oregon) received $15,000
in support of its Integrative Family Medicine Fellowship.
www.ohsu.edu
Dr. Fredi Kronenberg, Richard and Hinda Rosenthal Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine at Columbia University
(New York, New York) received $5,000 for her pioneering work in women's health, global and public health in the use of ethnomedicine in the U.S. and other countries, to continue bringing integrative medicine into the mainstream of modern medical centers. www.rosenthal.hs.columbia.edu
Dr. Arti Prasad, Chief, Section of Integrative Medicine, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center
(Albuquerque, New Mexico) received $5,000 to continue developing the innovative program she leads, which provides educational, research, clinical and community services in integrative medicine. hsc.unm.edu/som/medicine/integrative_med/
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. www.herbalgram.org
The grants for five 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.”
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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