SCIENTIFIC ADVISORY BOARD

Dr. Hardy is board certified in internal medicine and a specialist in botanical and integrative medicine; she has actively combined complementary and alternative therapies with traditional Western medicine for over twenty years in both her clinical practice and research projects. In 1998, she founded the Integrative Medicine Clinic at Cedars-Sinai and, more recently, participated in an NCCAM-funded research project that evaluated the barriers and facilitators of integrative medicine practice based on her clinic. She was also the co-principle investigator in a number of systematic reviews of CAM topics conducted in the Evidence Based Practice Center at RAND. Subsequently, she served for 2 1/2 years as the Associate Director of the UCLA Botanical Research Center, funded by the Office of Dietary Supplements. Currently, Dr. Hardy is the medical director of the Simms/Mann-UCLA Center for Integrative Oncology. This program serves the psychosocial and integrative medicine needs of patients and their families throughout the spectrum of cancer care. She has recently served as the co-director of the Integrative Medicine Health and Wellness Program at the Venice Family Clinic, the largest free clinic in the United States. A successful multi-disciplinary clinical program for the management of chronic pain has been established as a result of this project. She is a founding member of the Advisory Council for the newly-established Naturopathic Medicine Board of California and also serves on the External Advisory Council for the Natural Product Directorate for the Canadian Ministry of Health. She has recently completed a popular book for Readers Digest entitled Best Remedies, and serves on a number of editorial and scientific advisory boards including the American Botanical Council, Evidence Based Complementary Medicine and Phytomedicine. Dr. Hardy is recognized as an authority on integrative medicine and natural product by organizations such as the Office of Dietary Supplements, the California Medical Board, the American Medical Association, the American Pharmaceutical Association, CBS, NBC, Discovery Channel and the Los Angeles Times. Contributing to the national development of integrative medicine, she serves as the co-chairperson of the Clinical Practice Committee of the Academic Consortium of Integrative Medicine (an organization of the leading medical schools practicing and teaching in this area). Her current research interests include reviewing the evidence for the safety and efficacy of natural therapies, especially botanicals.