The Susan Samueli Center for Integrative Medicine at UC Irvine School of Medicine, rated one of the top 50 U.S. medical schools by U.S. News & World Report, is an academic center focused on scientific research and education in complementary and alternative medicine. The center offers alternative treatments such as acupuncture, naturopathy, Chinese herbal medicine, nutritional supplements, a therapeutic lifestyle program and education at our clinic.
The center was established in 2001 with a generous gift of $5.7 million from Henry and Susan Samueli to take a leadership role in exploring the frontiers of complementary and integrative medicine.
Growing interest in complementary and alternative approaches for maintaining wellness, preventing disease and treating specific illnesses created a need for such a center to conduct rigorous scientific investigations of the physiological effects of these treatments.
Education in this field is also a high priority of the center. The medical community is becoming more interested in complementary or integrative approaches that embrace nonconventional medical interventions as part of medical treatment when they are supported by solid scientific research.
The Susan Samueli Center for Integrative Medicine is putting some of these approaches into practice. We also are working to educate both the medical and the lay communities about the benefits and risks associated with new approaches to the practice of medicine.
