Funding for osteopathic research became organized with the establishment of the A.T. Still Research Institute in 1907. Located in Chicago, the institute was under the direction of John Deason, D.O., a graduate of the ASO. The A.T. Still Research Institute provided a place for conduction of basic research and the teaching of advanced courses to practicing D.O.s. Dr. Burns succeeded Dr. Deason and moved the institute to Sunny Slope Laboratories in South Pasadena, California in 1917.

After the research institute merged with the American Osteopathic Foundation in 1928 (not the same AOF of today), the AOA formed a Committee on Research to foster research in the osteopathic colleges. Today the A.T. Still Foundation and Research Institute is managed by the AOA, and through the funding of the Burnett-Timken Trust, awards one-year research grants for investigation specifically in areas of OMT and OPP.