Shah Family Foundation Launches Center for Comprehensive Healing at Mass General Brigham with $10 Million Grant
February 27, 2025
Boston-Based Initiative to Advance Adoption of Healing Innovations to Address Chronic Illness Epidemic
BOSTON, MA – The Shah Family Foundation today announced the establishment of a groundbreaking research center within the integrated Department of Psychiatry at Brigham & Women’s Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital. Funded by $10 million from the Foundation, the Center for Comprehensive Healing will advance innovative evidence-based interventions that support an individual’s innate ability to heal. With more than 60% of U.S. adults living with at least one chronic condition, such as diabetes, heart disease, obesity, cancer, mental illness, and more, and 42% managing multiple debilitating conditions, chronic illness has become a defining challenge for modern healthcare. This new center aims to address these challenges through pioneering research, dissemination of findings to medical practitioners, and collaborations with community health centers to provide healing modalities in their communities.
A. Eden Evins, MD, MPH, the Cox Family Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and founding director of the Mass General Center for Addiction Medicine, and Darshan Mehta, MD, MPH, the medical director of the Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, medical and education director at the Osher Center for Integrative Health at Harvard Medical School and Brigham & Women’s Hospital, will serve as the Center’s co-directors. Dr. Mehta also serves as director of Mass General’s Office for Well-Being and medical and education director at the Osher Center for Integrative Medicine. The pair brings extensive experience and leadership in psychiatry, resilience, stress reduction and overall well-being to their roles.
"The visionary generosity of the Shah Family Foundation empowers us to broaden the horizons of health and deepen our scientific understanding of the conditions necessary for optimal recovery," said Dr. Mehta. "By advancing our knowledge of the body’s innate capacity for healing, we aspire to pioneer transformative solutions for individuals living with chronic pain and illness."
“Through the new Center for Comprehensive Healing, we will bring the most advanced scientific methodologies to understand integrative therapies, from the ancient to the novel, seeking insights to empower individuals, families, and communities to improve their health. We will work to democratize access to the most effective of these therapies” said Dr. Evins.
Evins and Mehta will oversee initiatives to identify practices that create shifts in individuals toward healing, train practitioners to apply these practices, and create pathways for increasing the accessibility of these practices into community care settings, particularly for individuals in underserved and low-resource communities. Areas of focus will likely be wide-reaching, including modalities like massage therapy and acupuncture, tai chi, EFT, meditation, energy healing and mindfulness. This work is especially timely, with more than half of doctors in the United States recommending complementary health approaches to their patients and a growing number of patients are using interventions to complement or replace pharmacotherapies and surgery both preventatively and in the treatment of chronic conditions. Through this center, they also aim to establish a network of experts to disseminate and explain the latest research.
“We all sit somewhere on the continuum of health, and our bodies have an innate ability to heal, albeit sometimes with supportive treatments,” said Jill Shah, Shah Family Foundation president. “The Center for Comprehensive Healing will help us better understand how a person heals, and provide access to these experiences and knowledge to both practitioners and patients in the Boston community. This initiative reflects our Foundation’s commitment to advancing innovative health and wellness solutions that intersect with education and community support.”
Dr. Susan Whitfield-Gabrieli will serve as Research Director, bringing her expertise in understanding the brain’s role in psychiatric disorders and promoting the translation of this knowledge into clinical practice.
“By exploring the mechanisms behind healing, our research enhances our understanding of how various practices promote recovery and well-being—paving the way for more effective, integrative treatment strategies” said Dr. Whitfield-Gabrieli.
The center’s advisory board of thought leaders, researchers, and clinicians from across the health and wellness system will help guide its direction and funding priorities over the next five years. As the center establishes its research framework, its findings will be disseminated to practitioners nationwide, ensuring the broad adoption of innovative healing practices and better health outcomes for patients everywhere.
This collaboration underscores Boston’s leadership in medical innovation and its commitment to improving lives globally and offers an expanded paradigm for promoting and nurturing whole-person health.
For more information, please visit www.centerforcomprehensivehealing.org.
About The Shah Family Foundation
The Shah Family Foundation supports innovative and transformative work in education, healthcare and the community. We believe that interesting and lasting solutions sit where these intersect. Our primary work and support is centered in Boston, with the goal of sharing broadly the programs and innovations that prove successful in our home town. Learn more at: http://www.shahfoundation.org.
