Welcome from the Conference Chairs

Medicine, as we know it, is no longer affordable or sustainable. Nor is it able to curb the increase in obesity, mental health problems and most long-term disease. Dr Michael Dixon, Chair of the College of Medicine, will highlight how it is now time for Integrative Care to take centre stage - combining the best of our current medicine with an approach that enhances our natural abilities to self-heal and stay healthy using lifestyle and a wider range of therapies.

Healing is on many peoples' minds today. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and a host of other disruptions and disasters, many of us feel that we need healing in our personal lives, for the environment and for our planet. Emeritus Professor Paul Dieppe will highlight how modern medicine needs to be more pluralistic in its approach to health and accept that spirituality and healing techniques have roles to play alongside scientific medicine.

The session will focus on the evolving role and range of social prescribing in national healthcare.

The Panel: Professor Tony Avery OBE, National Clinical Director for Prescribing NHS England; Dr Lucy Pollock, consultant geriatrician and best selling author; Charlotte Osborn-Forde, CEO National Academy of Social Prescribing; Dr Kelly Thornber, Co-Director Pharma Pollution Hub; Hamaad Khan, co-lead Beyond Pills Hope for the Future; Sian Brand, Chair Social Prescribing Network (hosted by CoM), College of Medicine

 

Dr Leslie Stone and Chris Moore have been applying principles of health preconception and pregnancy management by integrating genomic and nutrient biomarker testing with nutrition, nutrient, and lifestyle interventions.  They will highlight how this has successfully decreased adverse pregnancy and pre-term birth rates resulting in significant reduction in associated healthcare costs, and improved health resilience across the lifespan. 

New strategies integrating diet, the microbiome and the tumor microenvironment to improve outcomes

Prof Robert Thomas is currently undertaking a national double blind Randomised Control Trial looking at gut health and prostate cancer outcomes - the first prospective clinical study in the world!  He will explain how they are helping to educate patients to improve gut health in routine practice plus highlighting the work around diet, lifestyle, physical activity and sleep.  

Professor Debbie Sharp is leading the evaluation of a pilot social prescribing project that has linked general medical practices in deprived areas of SW England with two local farms.  Patients have been referred by their GP for the project which is intended to demonstrate the potential role of healthy food, engaging with the outside environment, farming and sustainable food production with improving individual health and healing.

Dr Wafaa, a clinical oncologist trained in functional medicine, will highlight how she works with her patients to encourage positive lifestyle modifications, as she is a firm believer in following reliable methodologies and individualised protocols.

Claire Sambolino and Clare Grundel will share case studies of the power of combining current NHS primary care structures with the provision of nutritional therapy services and present the case for getting nutritional therapy out of private practice and available to only a few, and into public health provision.

Julia Bradbury, a well known TV Presenter and author describes herself as a 'cancer thriver' and now a health advocate will share her experiences of being diagnosed with cancer and her own journey of building a multi-disciplinary team to optimise her treatment, health and recovery. She will be joined by her nutritionist Pauline Cox and integrative medicine doctor, Dr Elizabeth Thompson, CEO of the National Centre for Integrative Medicine.

Helen Gowers will share the hundreds of success stories of this innovative programme designed to support people with diabetes. TLC is now commissioned to deliver QISMET accredited, structured education, and lifetime support alongside existing primary care services. 

Dr Gersh is adept in all areas of women's health but is especially renowned for her expertise in female hormones. Her holistic approach to the female aging process looks at comprehensively addressing the impacts of circadian rhythm disruption, sleep disturbances, pharmaceuticals, environmental toxins, nutrient and hormonal deficiencies, gut microbiome imbalances and chronic stress.

 

Dr. Mark Menolascino will discuss how precision medicine for cardiovascular disease prevention and treatment involves a holistic approach, considering an individual's genetic makeup, lifestyle choices, and environmental factors to tailor interventions that address their cardiovascular health and target specific disease characteristics.

Michael Dooley, an NHS Consultant Gynaecologist, will highlight the benefits of providing an integrated patient-centred approach to women’s healthcare, offering the most appropriate evidence-based choice of conventional and complementary treatments to address the patients’ wishes, beliefs and needs.

Dr Boon Lim is an NHS consultant Cardiologist, and obtained a PhD from Imperial College on the Autonomic Nervous System in heart rhythm abnormalities. He has published on heart rate variability and having trained as a HeartMath coach, he incorporates breathwork coaching in his day to day practice with cardiac patients, and staff members. In this session, he will discuss why heart rate variability matters, and demonstrate simple training techniques to enhance acute and long term heart rate variability.  

Rohini Bajekal will discuss the evidence for proven lifestyle approaches alongside western medicine, with a focus on the role of plant-based nutrition in managing PCOS.

Dr Torkil Færø, is a GP and emergency physician and author of the Pulse Cure which is one of the best selling non fiction books in 2023 in Norway, and is still on the national best seller list one year after publication.  He will explain the science and physiology behind what these wearables can tell you and how you can use them to positively improve both yours and your patients overall health.  

A comprehensive exploration of osteoporosis from a functional perspective with women’s health expert, Tanya Borowski; she will explore the intricate connections between the immune system, vascular system, the gut microbiome, hormones and osteoporosis.

A new health initiative promoting playing the bagpipes to improve certain lung conditions and breathing difficulties has been launched at Dumfries House. The King’s Foundation unique pilot healthcare programme will incorporate bagpiping and holistic therapies with the aim to provide participants with a range of self-management tools to empower them to improve their overall health and wellbeing.

Central to the IPM congress is the role it plays in bringing together healthcare practitioners from a range of disciplines but who share the common goal of practising whole person, patient centred care. We aim to celebrate the common threads and foster mutual understanding and respect for different perspectives while inspiring more practitioners to embark on this rewarding approach to healthcare. 

In this panel discussion you will hear from an integrative medicine doctor, Dr Elizabeth Thompson; a practicing GP Dr Laura Marshall-Andrews; a Herbalist, Alex Laird; a dentist, Dr Roop Mann and a functional medicine physician, Dr Mohammed Enayat.

As a Naturopath and Functional Medicine Practitioner, Dr Kristi Morlan-Hughes has dedicated her professional path to the study and practice of root-cause medicine and has a particular passion in supporting the development of multi-disciplinary teams.  She previously served as a Director of Medical Education at the Institute for Functional Medicine (IFM) for a decade and now continues to guide health coaches, nutrition professionals, and root-cause focused health care providers in their medical education journey in her various programmes and group learning opportunities.