The UC San Diego REACH Center for Translational Science on Whole Person Health (UCSD-REACH) is designed to close the gap between complementary and integrative health practice and modern biomedical science.

Bidirectional Innovation

We pair the experiential knowledge of CIH practitioners with UC San Diego’s advanced translational science resources to generate research questions rooted in practice and transformed into rigorous science.

National Leadership

Home to one of the largest integrative medicine research endowments and a $40M Krupp Fund for pilot studies, UC San Diego brings unmatched infrastructure, mentorship, and collaborative reach across the University of California system.

Equity & Inclusion

UCSD-REACH is dedicated to uplifting diverse voices, ensuring that research in whole person health authentically represents cultural traditions and underserved communities.

What We Offer to Partnering Institutions

At UCSD-REACH, our mission is to strengthen the research capacity of complementary and integrative health (CIH) institutions and elevate whole person health science nationwide. We go beyond individual training to provide systemic, long-lasting benefits to our partner institutions.

UCSD-REACH serves as a hub for building CIH research capacity. Partner institutions gain:

 

UCSD-REACH connects CIH institutions with the resources of UC San Diego and the broader UC system, as well as with national REACH Centers. Together, we create a powerful community of practice—fostering innovation, shared learning, and collaborative research across disciplines.

We work hand-in-hand with CIH colleges and universities to design customized capacity-building roadmaps. From administrative infrastructure to research culture development, our support equips institutions with the tools needed to grow sustainable research programs.

Partner institutions gain entry to UC San Diego’s state-of-the-art laboratories, advanced data platforms, and the NIH-funded HEAL-PURPOSE virtual network. This access accelerates the path from research ideas to impactful discoveries.

We are dedicated to uplifting diverse voices and honoring the cultural traditions that inform CIH practices. Partnering institutions receive support in embedding diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility into their research agendas.

Our goal is to ensure that research capacity doesn’t end with individual training. By embedding research infrastructure, fostering collaborations, and creating pipelines of clinician-scientists, UCSD-REACH helps institutions establish lasting contributions to whole person health science.

The REACH Center Network

UCSD-REACH is part of a growing network of NCCIH-funded REACH Centers across the country. Each focuses on strengthening CIH research from a different angle:

  • RAND REACH Center: Specializes in health services and implementation research.

  • UCSD REACH Center: Focuses on translational science, bridging practice-based insights with laboratory and clinical discoveries.

Together, these Centers collaborate rather than compete—aligning expertise to maximize opportunities for partnering institutions and to advance the national whole person health research agenda.