Esther van der Werf, MSc, PhD, Dip IACH, is a Senior Epidemiologist/Clinical Research Lead at the Homeopathy Research Institute (HRI), London, United Kingdom. Esther holds an honorary Senior Lectureship (Associate Professor) in Primary Care Infection at the Bristol Medical School of the University of Bristol, United Kingdom, and is a visiting Research fellow of the Australian Research Center for Complementary and Integrative Medicine (ARCCIM), University of Technology Sydney. She is a qualified classical homeopath, trained in homeopathy at the International Academy of Classical Homeopathy (Professor George Vithoulkas, Greece).

Her research has a strong focus on antimicrobial stewardship and integrative medicine, specifically on the reduction of inappropriate use of antibiotics by studying complementary prevention - and treatment strategies.The evaluation of Complementary (CM) prevention and treatment strategies is central to her research and as a principal investigator or co-applicant, she has designed, secured funding for, led and implemented a variety of (international) projects (Clinical trials and Systematic Reviews).

After obtaining her PhD at the Erasmus University Rotterdam in The Netherlands in 2002, she subsequently worked as an epidemiologist at the University of Medical Centre Utrecht and University of Applied Sciences Leiden in the Netherlands. In 2015, Esther joined the Centre of Academic Primary Care of the University of Bristol, UK, to continue her research on Integrative Medicine and infectious diseases. From August 2018 until August 2019, she initiated and led the research group on Integrative Medicine at the School of Medicine of Taylor's University, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, followed by 2 years of leading the Integrative Medicine research department of the Louis Bolk Institute in The Netherlands. Esther is a founding member of the worldwide research network on Integrative Medicine and Antimicrobial resistance. Esther's Publications (ORCID): https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5330-5735