Executive Director's Message
Mary E. Charlson, MD
Executive Director
Weill Cornell Center for Complementary and Integrative Medicine
Welcome to the Weill Cornell Center for Complementary and Integrative Medicine (CCIM). In June 2000, the Weill Cornell Center for Complementary and Integrative Medicine (CCIM) was established as a university-wide center by the Board of Trustees.
Recent trends have shown a dramatic rise in Americans' use of complementary and alternative approaches to health and wellness. There is growing evidence that patients with chronic illnesses are seeking such therapies and trying to identify approaches that are consonant with their own preferences and values. The most recent CDC survey of 31,000 U.S. adults found that 36% had employed complementary approaches within the last year, an important increase since previous surveys. With regard to natural products, currently, at least $5 billion is spent annually by the American public on herbals, botanicals, dietary supplements, and nutraceuticals with the hope of preventing or treating diseases.
Based at Weill Cornell Medical College , a central mission of the Center is to bring cutting-edge, scientific methodology to evaluate whether complementary approaches – often thousands of years old – are effective in improving outcomes and quality of life among patients who are faced with chronic illness. The Center also evaluates strategies to promote health and wellness. Our programs focus on two key areas: mind-body interventions and natural products such as herbal medicines. The Center designs studies to assess their effectiveness, either through clinical trials or the outcomes of patients treated in clinical practice. It provides trusted basic and clinical research in complementary and integrative medicine at a time when unverified claims and questionable alternative medical practices are common. Drawing on a world-class faculty from many disciplines, the Center uses innovative methodologies to rigorously evaluate complex mind-body interventions and complex herbal preparations. Since the Center's inception, we have received 35 new grants for clinical research and education, totaling over $28,000,000 in funding support.
The aim of the CCIM is to help patients and physicians complement the best in medical and surgical care with the most coherent and effective methods of promoting self-care and self-healing for preventing and managing acute and chronic disease.
Through innovative strategies that evaluate new approaches, and with the ability to tailor them to patients with different problems, our goal is to unite that research with exceptional medical care. Finally, we believe the time to be at the forefront of research and clinical practice in complementary and integrative medicine is now. The Weill Cornell Center for Complementary and Integrative Medicine will set benchmarks for a field of academic research and medical practice with a profound potential for future growth.
