Alternative Wellness Clinic Grants

In 1992, Congress empowered the the Office of Alternative Medicine (OAM) to encourage the use of alternative medicinal practices. The ultimate goal is to integrate alternative treatment options into traditional medical practice. The OAM's mandate includes training investigators to assist in the fulfillment of this mission. The goal of this grant is to establish centers to research these alternative options. Grants of this type are not available through other avenues.

Eligibility

• This program is available to both profit,and non-profit organizations, as well as public and private institutions. Foreign organizations are not permitted to apply. Since the focus is on multi-disciplinary research, applications that propose research on only one area will not be accepted. For example, if only basic research, or clinical research is specified, the application will be denied. The overall goals and objectives of the research agenda must be specifically stated in the application. It must include the direction of the research as well as specific disease entities and target populations.

Available Funds

• The grant will provide a maximum of $2,400,000 is available in the first year. This will fund between two and four awards to qualified applicants. The award may cover up to five years.

Background

• Even though alternative medicine is in widespread use, there is very little data available to verify whether the treatments are effective. This project was created to obtain the necessary data. Currently, 10 centers are being supported through these grants. These are viewed as the first step to establishing a national research infrastructure. These centers evaluate potential research projects in their program area and prioritize research projects according to their findings.