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As a leader in the field of integrative care, the Osher Center for Integrative Health at UC is involved in several federally-funded research projects. We are currently investigating mind-body and food-as-medicine interventions.
Workplace Mindfulness: 5-week or 8-week virtual programs, one-hour presentations, and half or full-day retreats options, for businesses to support associate wellness focused on building resilience and managing stress. All programs are evaluated with input from the client to address pain points and growth/change after the mindfulness training is implemented. Includes programming through the Universal Provider Grant through the University of Cincinnati Provost’s Office and programming with clients such as P&G, Cincinnati Regional Chamber of Commerce, Cincinnati Bar Association, Kilgour Elementary School, and Withrow High School.
Alternatives to opioids for pain in the emergency department: Implementing Integrative Health approaches and expanding local nerve block initiatives: In partnership with Emergency Medicine, this SAMHSA-funded grant will expand the use of available evidence-based options for pain management in the emergency department (ED), focusing on pain relief and empowering people with tools to use for pain management while minimizing the risk of potential harms from opioid exposure. A full menu of integrative health and medicine techniques will be introduced and available for novel outpatient follow-up (e.g., acupuncture, yoga), with patients receiving information on mindfulness and stress reduction techniques to use immediately. Mindfulness and resilience training sessions will be offered to ED prescribers in an effort to decrease personal burnout through experiencing the benefits of this mind-body modality firsthand and allowing them to be more informed when offering these interventions to patients.
Practice-Based Integrative Health Research: To promote wellness through the prevention and treatment of various diseases with lifestyle and behavioral approaches including nutrition, physical activity, stress reduction and connectivity, and evidence-based integrative therapies. All integrative health clinical programs are evaluated for feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary effectiveness using a practice-based research approach. Types of patients mostly seen are patients with multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, diverse types of cancer, including blood cancer and chronic pain. This is an evaluation research project to measure the effects of the different Integrative Medicine (IM) therapies on stress, diet, sleep and social functioning.
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Publications (*Senior Author)
Posters/Presentations
Harini is a Principal Research Associate with the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Cincinnati. Harini has a Master’s degree in Health Administration & Planning from the University of Cincinnati with a primary focus on Health Services Research. Her specialization is in quantitative research methods, data analysis, database design, and application support. She has over ten years of experience in managing research projects and assists UC faculty, residents, and medical students with their research.
Sian Cotton, PhD, founding director of the Osher Center for Integrative Health and the Turner Farm Foundation Chair at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, is a licensed clinical psychologist. A Professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine and Division Director for Integrative Medicine, Dr. Cotton has an active research lab with ongoing clinical studies focusing primarily on mindfulness-based interventions and integrative medicine practice-based research. She is currently the Chair of the Board of Directors for the Academic Consortium of Integrative Medicine and Health, a group of over 85 leading academic health centers, and served as 1 of 8 Congress Co-Presidents for the 2nd World Congress on Integrative Medicine in Rome, September 2023. Dr. Cotton is often invited to speak with community organizations and businesses, healthcare audiences, and academics about mind-body medicine for stress reduction, and preventive and wellness-based approaches to healthcare.
Students will learn mixed-methods program evaluation and clinical research skills through the Osher Center for Integrative Health in lifestyle medicine outpatient clinics, the UC Cancer Wellness Clinic, lifestyle medicine group visits, and Workplace Mindfulness programs. Typical tasks may include: literature reviews, data collection, building databases, data entry, shadowing data analysis and reporting, building tables/graphs, Microsoft Office and Canva formatting, abstract writing, creating poster presentations, and manuscript writing
“I believe the human body was built to thrive. Integrative medicine is the future of disease prevention.”
Education and Experience
What do you hope to gain from participating in the Integrative Medicine MSSP Program?I look forward to learning about all the unique tools that Integrative Medicine has to offer. I want to use these insights as a physician to create comprehensive care plans that empower my patients to proactively manage their health. Ultimately, my vision is to build a healthcare model that emphasizes prevention and whole-person care.
“I believe that our medical system and our communities can be improved by placing an increased emphasis on the way that cultures and lifestyles impact health.”
Education & Experience
What do you hope to gain from participating in the Integrative Medicine MSSP Program?
Studying medical anthropology, I learned about the importance of understanding the sociocultural side of medicine and its potential to improve patient outcomes without an excessive focus on surgical or pharmacological therapies. I am excited for the opportunity to apply some of the principles I learned and discover how evidence-based diet and lifestyle therapies can make meaningful contributions to the management and prevention of illness.
“Integrative medicine empowers individuals to take charge of their health by emphasizing prevention and promoting lifelong wellness.”
"I believe that integrative and lifestyle medicine are the future of preventing disease and lessening pain."
I believe that integrative and lifestyle medicine are critical in developing a well-rounded and resourceful physician. In an age where chronic disease, polypharmacy, and reactionary procedures lead to high medical expenditures and adverse outcomes for patients, integrative and lifestyle medicine are extremely relevant.
Katie MacVittie
"I believe healthcare in America needs to shift more to preventative and lifestyle medicine, and I am so excited to be learning more about this approach so early in my medical education"
I am excited to see how UC brings lifestyle medicine and modalities such as nutrition or acupuncture to patients with chronic disease and those undergoing cancer treatment. I am passionate about becoming a physician trained in Integrative Medicine and utilizing this holistic approach to improve the lives of my future patients.
Christen Lescallett
“My goal is to learn how to guide patients towards healthy lifestyle improvements that are implementable and change the course of their healthspan”
Education & Experience:
What do you hope to gain from participating in the Integrative Medicine MSSP program?
I hope to learn more about the field of Integrative Medicine so that I’m more prepared to provide patients with evidence-based options for complementary therapies and lifestyle changes, so that I can provide holistic and preventative care that’s impactful.
Nithya Trichy
"I want to improve the health of the community by educating and making healthy food options more affordable for under-resourced populations and, ultimately, alleviate food insecurities."
I hope to learn about the cultural and historical backgrounds behind integrative therapies and the systemic challenges associated with implementing them. Utilizing this knowledge, I will read, learn, and share existing journals focused on current innovations in Lifestyle Medicine and Integrative Health with my colleagues during journal clubs and interest group meetings. After consolidating this information, I aspire to contribute to research oriented around identifying the health disparities that exist within the community and developing effective avenues to address them.
“We must shift medicine to emphasizing prevention and meeting people where they’re at in their journeys. This begins with figuring out what patients can control, and what lifestyle factors are mutable.”
I hope to participate in the integrative medicine MSSP because I want to understand how to incorporate stress management, dietary changes, and every other aspect of holistic care into my practice. Further, I want to make this model of care possible for every patient. Further, I want to make this model of care possible for every patient. I hope that participating in this MSSP program will expose me to the different tools that integrative medicine incorporates, will allow me to make connections with leaders in the field so I can discover where I can be useful in expanding this model, and will teach me to connect with patients in a way that sees each as their story, not as their diagnoses.
Faculty Scholarly Activity: For individual affiliated faculty research areas, priorities and activity, please visit our Directory Page and click on the faculty member for research information.
UC-wide Integrative Research Search: Search the UC-wide research database by keyword or name of researcher.
Current and previous funding sources include National Institute of Child Health and Development, Cincinnati Veteran Affairs Medical Center, and foundation grants.
From the Academic Consortium of Integrative Medicine & Health: INTEGRATIVE RESEARCH - COCHRANE LIBRARY
Medical Sciences Building Suite 4358231 Albert Sabin WayPO Box 670582 Cincinnati, OH 45267-0582
Mail Location: 0582Phone: 513-558-2310Fax: 513-558-3266Email: osher.integrative@uc.edu