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C.J. Mack Foundation Gives $10 Million to Duke Center for Integrative Medicine

The center seeks to serve as a catalyst for change in health care, whereby patients become more active in their own health and wellness

DURHAM, N.C. -- Duke University has received $10 million from the C.J. Mack Foundation to support a new facility dedicated to the emerging field of integrative medicine, Ralph Snyderman, M.D., chancellor for health affairs and president and CEO of the Duke Health System, announced Friday.

The C.J. Mack Foundation is the philanthropic entity of Christy King Mack and John Mack of Rye, N.Y. Christy Mack is a native of Greensboro, N.C.; John Mack is a native of Mooresville, N.C.

"Christy Mack is a visionary in understanding the power of integrative approaches to improve the lives of people," said Snyderman. "This gift is pivotal to enabling Duke to develop new models of health care focused on wellness."

According to Duke University President Nannerl O. Keohane, Duke is uniquely positioned to develop and test the integrative health care model.

"Duke has always encouraged the daring and intelligent crossing of boundaries," said Keohane. "Our university's entrepreneurial spirit, strong emphasis on interdisciplinary research, and commitment to compassionate patient care make this the right place to explore the intersection of conventional and complementary medicine."

Tracy Gaudet, M.D., director of the Duke Center for Integrative Medicine (DCIM), said the center seeks to serve as a catalyst for change in health care, fostering a healing partnership between patients and providers, and encouraging patients to become more active in their own health and wellness. She said integrative medicine instills the goal of "whole person" healing, combining therapeutic interventions and conventional medical practice with those from complementary and alternative medicine (CAM).

"Duke has a long history of investigating and proving innovative approaches," said Gaudet. "DCIM provides an environment where patients as well as students, residents and practicing physicians can experience new approaches and begin integrating them into the mainstream."

The new 29,800-square-foot health and healing center will be constructed on the campus of the Duke Center for Living on Erwin Road, where DCIM is now based. It also will provide space for the center to expand its existing clinical and educational programs.

The gift from the Mack Foundation fuels momentum for a growing effort at Duke to transform the nation's approach to health care. Writing in the November 2003 issue of the journal Academic Medicine, Snyderman and medical school Dean R. Sanders "Sandy" Williams, M.D., call for a "prospective health care" approach that would use new medical and genomic tools to help individuals identify the specific health risks they face and to apply this information to prevent or delay disease.

"This visionary gift from John and Christy Mack will support much more than the state-of-the-art facility we plan to build at Duke," said Snyderman. "It will help provide a living laboratory where we can develop and refine new models for health care the way it should be delivered. Ultimately, our goal is to improve the health and well being of people throughout this country and beyond."

As evidence of the institution's belief in the efficacy of the prospective/integrative approach, Snyderman announced in November that some 31,000 people covered under two of Duke's health insurance plans will have an opportunity to experience this new model of health care. Funded by Duke University Human Resources and designed in consultation with DCIM faculty, the model features an interactive web site, individual health risk assessments, rewards for participation and -- for an estimated 1,000 employees ' a care-management nurse and personal health coaching.

"Duke University Medical Center enjoys a stellar international reputation for its commitment to advancing the practice of medicine," says Christy Mack. "Duke stands out as an example of pushing the envelope in research and clinical practice as well as in education. With the creation of this Center for Integrative Medicine, I believe Duke is poised to become the role model for what the practice of medicine should be: patient-focused with an emphasis on the interconnectedness of mind, body, spirit and community. I am pleased to play a part in this extraordinary movement, and to partner with the committed professionals at Duke."

Christy Mack is one of five children born to a Greensboro physician and his wife. A graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, she is president of the C.J. Mack Foundation and chair of DCIM's National Advisory Board. She is co-founder of the Philanthropic Collaboration for Integrative Medicine, a group of philanthropists based in Minneapolis, who leverage their experiences and resources to promote integrative medicine. She also has served on the Board of Visitors of Duke's Trinity College, where two of the couple's three children received undergraduate degrees. She has been a supporter of the North Carolina School of the Arts, the Greensboro Children's Museum and Exploris, a global communications museum and education system for children in Raleigh, N.C.

John Mack is the chief executive of Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB) and co-CEO of its parent company, Credit Suisse Group. A long-time Wall Street banker and former president of Morgan Stanley, he is widely credited with turning around problems at CSFB and instilling a culture of honesty and teamwork. The youngest of six boys whose Lebanese-immigrant parents ran a wholesale grocery business in Mooresville, Mack attended Duke on a football scholarship and handled his academic and athletic responsibilities while working at a small brokerage house and earning $365 a month. After graduating, he took his first job on Wall Street as a municipal bond trader and salesman with Smith Barney. He currently serves on the Duke University Board of Trustees and the steering committee for Duke's Fuqua School of Business. He was a member of the steering committee for the successful $2 billion Campaign for Duke, which ended Dec. 31.

In addition to their most recent gift, the Macks in 1999 gave $10 million to establish the need-based Christy K. and John J. Mack Family Scholarship Endowment Fund, and to support Duke's football program, the Duke-Durham Neighborhood Partnership, student residential life enhancements, the Duke Annual Fund and the Fuqua School of Business.

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