Research is critical to provide ongoing validation of the efficacy of the functional medicine model. The Institute for Functional Medicine is working toward the following research goals:

• Contribute to the national effort to develop and validate whole-systems research models and comparative effectiveness studies
• Establish practice-based research networks to validate the most successful applications of functional medicine to specific conditions
• Continuously monitor the emerging scientific evidence about the underlying causes of—and effective approaches to—chronic disease; integrate the evidence into every level of functional medicine education