Simon will present our opening keynote, exploring how we can all take ownership of our health outcomes.

About Simon

Simon Mills is a Cambridge medical sciences graduate and has been a herbal practitioner in Exeter since 1977. In that time he has led the main professional and trade organizations for herbal medicine in the UK and served on Government and House of Lords committees. He has written standard textbooks used by herbal practitioners around the world, including with Professor Kerry Bone from Australia.

Simon was involved in academic work for many years, co-founding the University of Exeter pioneering Centre for Complementary Health Studies in 1987 (where they built a complementary research and postgraduate teaching programme from scratch), then at Peninsula, the first integrated health course at a UK medical school, and the first Masters degree in herbal medicine in the USA, at the Maryland University of Integrative Health.

About Nina

Dr. Nina Fuller-Shavel is an award-winning Oxbridge-trained integrative medicine doctor, scientist and educator with over a decade’s experience in integrative healthcare. Dr. Fuller-Shavel is the Co-Chair of BSIO (British Society for Integrative Oncology) and a Fellow of both the College of Medicine and the British Association for Nutrition and Lifestyle Medicine (BANT). Alongside her scientific and medical training, Dr. Nina Fuller-Shavel holds multiple qualifications in nutrition, integrative medicine, functional medicine (IFMCP), health coaching (FMCA), herbal medicine, Traditional Chinese Medicine, yoga, mindfulness and other therapeutic approaches.

Dr. Nina Fuller-Shavel is the founder and Director of Synthesis Clinic, an innovative multidisciplinary practice in Hampshire, specialising in women’s health and integrative cancer care. In 2022 Dr. Fuller-Shavel won a prestigious Innovation Leader of the Year award for her inspirational vision for healthcare and practice leadership. Alongside her clinical work, Dr. Fuller-Shavel delivers educational programmes for medical and nutrition professionals (including her Systems Approach to Cancer Programme), as well as participating in research in integrative medicine and precision health and contributing to editorial boards and guideline development panels nationally and internationally.

Finally, Dr. Fuller-Shavel is the Co-Founder and Director of Oncio CIC, an innovative non-profit aimed at providing high quality app-based resources for people with cancer and healthcare professionals and supporting best clinical practice and research in integrative oncology.

About Sukvinder

Sukvinder graduated from the Leicester School of Pharmacy with a First Class Honours degree in Pharmacy. She undertook her pre-registration training with Lloyds Pharmacy, where she continued to work as a community pharmacist. In 2012, Sukvinder began a PhD at theDe Montfort University in the department of Biomolecular Technology. There she investigated the use of herbal medicines by diasporic South Asian communities in the UK, using both qualitative methodologies and biological science techniques (DNA barcoding). Sukvinder graduated in 2016 with a thesis entitled ‘Investigating the Use and Identity of Traditional Herbal Remedies Amongst South Asian Communities Using Surveys and Biomolecular Techniques’.

In August 2016, Sukvinder joined the Clinical and Professional Practice group at the Medway School of Pharmacy as a Lecturer in Pharmacy Clinical and Professional Practice.

About Becs & Annwen

Becs and Annwen have over a decade of experience as herbalists and many more before that as environmental and community activists. Together they are Rhizome Community Herbal Clinic in Bristol, which was established in 2011,  providing herbal medicine and self-care courses on a sliding scale to the community. They were founding members of the Radical Herbalism Gathering collective, which put on events linking issues of social justice, the environment and community organising with health and herbal medicine. A core belief of the collective is that self-care, mutual aid and community responsibility are essential for health and wellbeing.

About Minha

Dr Minha Rajput-Ray graduated in Medicine from the University of Dundee in 2005. She was awarded the first NIHR (Walport) Academic Clinical Fellowship in Rheumatology and Pain in 2008 at the University of Manchester and the University of Cambridge.

This was then followed by further training in Occupational and Disability Medicine in London, gaining experience in complex case management for Primary Care Services, NHS workers, Public Services (Teachers, Higher and Further Education staff, Law Enforcement Agencies: Police, Armed Forces, Probation Service), the Safety Critical Sector, Logistics (Road, Rail and Offshore), Heavy industry manufacturing, and Charitable Sector (including SMEs and Social Enterprises) and liaison with Human Resources within the Corporate and Finance Sector.

In addition to being a Fully Registered and Licensed Medical Doctor, Dr Minha also has over 20 years of post-graduate experience as a Registered Osteopath and Naturopath (1st Class Honours, London 2001). Following major injury, trauma and illness in 2019/2020, Dr Minha was able to heal via an Ecological Medicine approach and this is now very much embedded in her clinical practice.

Dr Minha has pioneered Innovative Approaches to Pain, Chronic Disease and Work Health at the Curaidh Clinic (www.curaidh.com). This Integrative-Lifestyle-Functional-Ecological Medicine model focuses on unexplained medical conditions and persistent pain and fatigue syndromes (including  Long-Covid and Lyme and co-infections). The Curaidh Clinic Collaborative model has led to the successful implementation of integrated care pathways, with a virtual network of clinicians globally (the Integrated Health-Healing Harmony Matrix) alongside standard medical care.

About Chris

The Herbal Medicine Trust is a UK based registered charity that exists to promote herbal medicine in all its forms. We fund diverse projects and deliver education from home herbalism to full professional training. The trustees who run the charity are an eclectic and talented group of people united by their love of plants and their respect for herbal medicine.
We know that herbal medicine touches lives - and we are here to help make it happen.

Our vision is work together to create:

- Clear pathways into the world of herbal medicine whether you are just herb curious or want to become a medical herbalist.
- Gold standard education at foundation or professional level through our flagship project - Heartwood Education
- Funding for grassroots projects that make a real difference to local communities.

Promoting the use and enjoyment of herbs!

In 1927 Hilda Leyel founded the Society of Herbalists, which would later become the Herb Society, with the aim of supporting the practice of herbal medicine in Britain.

The Herb Society aims to:

• Increase the understanding and use of herbs for health and well-being
• Provide information, knowledge and news on all aspects of herbs
• Bring together all those with an interest in hers, from the amateur to the professional
• Provide a worldwide forum for the exchange of ideas and information

To find out more interesting facts about the Herb Society and how it came about, take a look at The Herb Society Information