IFM Expands Leadership Team to Address the Worldwide Epidemic of Chronic Disease
The Institute for Functional Medicine (IFM) has taken another significant step toward expanding its executive leadership capabilities by naming Cary Sennett, MD, PhD, as president of Medical Education and Research, a new senior role created by IFM to advance the critical work of evaluating and integrating emerging research and trends in health and medicine and to catalyze broad-based partnerships to further mature the Functional Medicine curriculum, clinical model, and evidence base.
This development, combined with the recent appointment of Amy R. Mack as the new CEO and the ascension of former CEO Laurie Hofmann, MPH, to chairman of the board, enables the organization to better address a broader agenda beyond education—including researching innovative and economic clinical models and broad-based strategic partnerships.
Dr. Sennett, a board certified internist and fellow of the American College of Physicians (FACP), comes to IFM from a long career in health care as a practitioner and administrator, most recently as president and CEO at the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America. He received his PhD in health policy and management from MIT, his MD and MPhil (in human genetics) from Yale, and his BS in biology from Stanford.
“As a health care professional for over 30 years, my personal mission has always been to provide health care solutions for patients that effectively treat their conditions at a cost that makes quality health care accessible and affordable,” said Dr. Sennett. “We are at a critical time in our country where the cost of our health care system substantially outweighs the value and positive outcomes it provides the average patient. What drew me to IFM—and more generally to functional medicine—is the evidence that functional medicine provides a path forward to create an affordable health care model based on individualized, patient-centered care that delivers optimal results in addressing chronic diseases and restoring health.”
Dr. Sennett’s immediate priorities include enhancing the functional medicine evidence base and continuing to drive greater accessibility and innovation of the organization’s educational programs in alignment with IFM’s strategic plan. He will also accelerate IFM’s online learning capability and outcomes research programs to strengthen the evidence base for functional medicine.
“We are excited Dr. Sennett is joining our team at this critical moment for Functional Medicine. His expertise is required as IFM builds on its already strong foundation as best in class educator and innovator in functional medicine and reinforces its role in shaping health care in the United States and around the world,” said Mack. “Dr. Sennett will play an integral role in catalyzing the evidence base and research to demonstrate functional medicine’s effectiveness in identifying and treating the root cause of chronic conditions and diseases and proving both the clinical and economic value for patients.”
For more information about IFM, visit www.ifm.org.
