RAND Research Across Complementary and Integrative Health Institutions (REACH) Center
The RAND REACH Center is a collaboration between the RAND Corporation and institutions that train complementary and integrative health (CIH) practitioners. Its purpose is to leverage the research infrastructure at the RAND Corporation to support collaborative research across and within these institutions.
Vision
The RAND REACH Center envisions a multidisciplinary system of health care that offers patients access to a wide variety of evidence-based, safe, and effective options to improve their health.
Mission
The RAND REACH Center promotes and provides a platform for CIH institutions and professions to conduct collaborative research in support of collectively beneficial health policy.
Goals
- Support collaboration across CIH institutions and professions for research that benefits CIH institutions and professions and positively impacts health policy related to CIH
- Increase research funding success by improving the quality of grant proposals and lowering the transaction costs of research participation for CIH institutions
- Allow CIH institutions to collectively have the scale needed to successfully compete for grants and to effectively partner with larger research and biomedical institutions and/or others
- Provide a platform for research collaboration that allows researchers to remain at their CIH institutions, thus increasing researcher retention and recruitment at the CIH institutions
- Conduct more inclusive research by giving everyone at participating CIH institutions (researchers, staff, students) access to research resources
Meet the Directors
Senior Health Policy Researcher
Ian Coulter is codirector of the RAND Research Across Complementary and Integrative Health Institutions (REACH) Center, a senior health policy researcher at the RAND Corporation, professor emeritus at UCLA, and research professor at the Southern California University of Health Sciences. He has more than 40 years of experience conducting both qualitative and quantitative research on complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) and integrative medicine (IM) and has published over 200 articles and books. Coulter was successful in securing a gift to create the endowed RAND/Samulei Chair in Integrative Medicine and a gift to establish the RAND Center for Collaborative Research in Complementary and Integrative Health (RCCR).
Senior Behavioral and Social Scientist
Patricia Herman is a codirector of the RAND Research Across Complementary and Integrative Health Institutions (REACH) Center and a senior behavioral scientist at the RAND Corporation. Her research centers on health economics, innovative care models, and overall quality of life. Herman is an NCCIH-supported methodologist, resource economist, and licensed naturopathic doctor.
Executive Director of Research and Innovation, Northwestern Health Sciences University
Michele Maiers is codirector of the RAND Research Across Complementary and Integrative Health Institutions (REACH) Center. Maiers is also executive director of research and innovation at Northwestern Health Sciences University (NWHSU) supporting the mission of providing evidence-based solutions to the health care community through its research and policy efforts. In her role as co-director of the CIH, Maiers will facilitate research activity both within and across participating institutions and develop strategies for advancing the Center.