Dr Peter Whorwell   BSc MB BS MD PhD FRCP

Professor Whorwell graduated in biochemistry at the University of London and in medicine at Guy’s Hospital, London. After a series of residencies and fellowships, one of which was in the USA, he was appointed as Consultant Physician and Gastroenterologist at the University Hospital of South Manchester in 1981 and was subsequently promoted to Professor of Medicine and Gastroenterology.

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Dr David Spiegel   M.D.

Dr Spiegel is Director of the Center on Stress and Health, Medical Director of the Center for Integrative Medicine, Jack, Lulu & Sam Willson Professor in the School of Medicine, and Associate Chair of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University.

His research interests involve stress and health: cognitive control over somatic functions, including cancer progression, the response to traumatic stress, and the perception of pain and anxiety. He is currently conducting a large scale study of the relationships among sleep disturbance, diurnal stress hormone patterns, and breast cancer survival, sponsored by the National Cancer Institute. This work is based upon earlier evidence from his laboratory that loss of circadian variation in cortisol, indicative of HPA dysfunction, predicts early mortality with breast cancer.

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Dr Peter Mackreth

Peter is the Clinical Lead for Complementary Therapies based at Christie Hospital NHS Foundation Trust Manchester and University Reader in Integrated Health at the University of Derby (Buxton Campus).

He is a registered nurse, and has worked in intensive care, neurology and oncology. Peter has completed training in a variety of bodywork therapies and integrative hypnotherapy. He has an MA in Medical Ethics and has recently completed a PhD project examining reflexology and relaxation training for people with multiple sclerosis.

In 2003 the Complementary Therapy Service at Christie Hospital won the prestigious Prince of Wales’s Good Practice Award. In 2004/5 the team won the Dept of Health’s Manchester and Regional Innovations Awards in Long-term Care. In November 2005 Peter was given the National Public Servant Award hosted by the Guardian Newspaper and presented at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.

Dr Mark Feldman   MB BS MRCGP(Dist) DoccMed MDCH ILTM

Dr Feldman is a senior partner in a general medical practice and a trainer responsible for GP registrars within the London Deanery, University of London.

He is a founder member, and Chairman of the British Association of Medical Hypnosis (BAMH). A consultant for the Institute of Personnel and Development in workplace stress, he also trains HR professionals and works with corporate bodies including Aventis Pharma, Axial Automotive, Anheuser Busch and Lloyds TSB Women’s group, among others.

In addition, Dr Feldman is a co-founder of the Expert System Smoking Cessation programme and is involved in research into the use of clinical hypnosis in habit breaking.

Dr Gerard Bodecker D.Ed.

Dr Bodeker is the Chair of the Global Initiative For Traditional Systems of Health at Oxford University and Senior Clinical Lecturer in Public Health at the Division of Medical Sciences of the University of Oxford. He is also Adjunct Professor of Epidemiology at Columbia University, New York.

"The MSHA brings research grounded in a body of scientific evidence and offered according to high professional standards. This is the organisation for those interested in a sound research in clinical hypnotherapy."

Gillian Nineham - Editorial Director, Radcliffe Publishing

Gillian began her career in academic and professional publishing with Blackwell Scientific Publications before going on to join one of its subsidiaries – Blackwell Videotec, a film and video production company – as a project developer and later a producer.

She produced many medical and scientific education and training programmes and documentaries as a freelance producer and worked with the BBC Natural History Unit and the BBC’s Horizon series.

Gillian has commissioned the majority of Radcliffe’s books, and been involved in the development of many other projects within the company, including producing all the video programmes that have formed part of the education packages. In 1995, she was part of a team that registered the name www.babyworld.co.uk with the aim of building a website for the general public about pregnancy and childbirth. She created the first pages for the site and it was launched in 1996, making it one of the oldest sites of its type in the UK.

Gillian was also a Non-Executive Director of North East Oxfordshire Primary Care Trust and the North Oxfordshire Primary Care Trust Partnership. She is currently a Trustee of the Men’s Health Forum, on the boards of the British Gestalt Journal and Independent Practitioner Today, a monthly magazine for private health practitioners.

Dr Lynn Williamson   BM BCh MA(Oxon) FRCP MRCGP DCH DRCOG Dip Med Ac.

Lynn is Honorary Senior Lecturer at both Oxford University and Bristol Medical Schools.

She is also Consultant Rheumatologist at Great Western Hospital Swindon.

Dr Leanda Kroll   MRCPsych

Dr Kroll is Senior Lecturer in Medical Education at St George's Medical School, University of London.

She co-ordinates the Personal Tutor System for medical students and also tracks academic progression. In addition, she may see students individually.

With a background as a Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist she recognises the interaction between emotional difficulties and academic performance and vice versa. Where anxiety is part of the problem, she advises students to use self-hypnosis CDs, amongst other recommendations.

Dr Brian Isbell - Head, Department of Complimentary Therapies, Westminster

Brian gained his PhD in Biophysics from the Medical Research Council and for the past twelve years he has been instrumental in developing the BSc Scheme of degrees in complementary medicine at the University of Westminster.

As Head of the Department of Complementary Therapies at the University of Westminster he manages the largest scheme of degrees in these subjects in Europe as well as teaching health sciences and complementary therapies. Brian is also an external examiner and adviser for complementary medicine courses in the UK and overseas.

Current research and publications include the topics of clinical outcome evaluation, complementary medicine education and assessing the effectiveness of treatment approaches.

Dr Isbell provides advice on complementary medicine to the media including BBC radio and television, has written for many journals and professional magazines and practises as an osteopath and naturopath in the University's Polyclinic.

Nicky Lidbetter - Chief Executive of Anxiety UK

Anxiety UK is the UK's leading anxiety disorders charity, and Nicky is also Chief Officer of the North West based charity Self Help Services.

She has a background in neuroscience and is currently in the final year of an MSc in Advanced Practice Interventions in Mental Health (Primary Care) at the University of Manchester. Nicky has considerable experience in the field of anxiety disorders through her work with Anxiety UK and the charitable company, Anxiety Disorders Conference.

Nicky was also a non-executive Director of Manchester Mental Health & Social Care NHS Trust from 2001-2006 and has provided consultancy support to the University of Manchester, London Underground and Greater Manchester Public Transport Executive (GMPTE).

Dr Margaret Macdonald - Chief Executive Officer, Action on Pre-eclampsia

Margaret has a PhD in cancer immunology and spent 12 years in biomedical research at University College London & Cold Spring Harbor, USA and 15 years in biotechnology at Amersham International and Nycomed plc.

She left research to enter patient-support charity management and is involved in Coeliac UK and ME Association, in addition to her role at the Action on Pre-eclampsia. Dr MacDonald is also trained in clinical hypnosis.