UCI: Receives $5.7 Million for Alternative Therapies Research
Computer chip billionaire Henry Samueli and his wife, Susan, announced plans Wednesday to give the University of California-Irvine $5.7 million to support alternative medicine research at the university's medical center, the Los Angeles Times reports. The gift will create the Susan Samueli Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine and will fund research on alternative therapies ranging from acupuncture to St. John's Wort. Citing a long-time interest in alternative medicine, Susan Samueli said, "I'd like to take away the idea that alternative medicine is quackery or hocus-pocus. There is some very scientific reasons why it works." Dr. Thomas Cesario, dean of UCI's College of Medicine, indicated that the new center will sponsor research on alternative therapies using the same strict guidelines applied in traditional medical research -- adding scientific validity to therapies that prove effective (Willon, 1/13).
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