About me
Chris Etheridge is a leading Medical Herbalist (Phytotherapist) with extensive experience as a herbal practitioner, researcher, teacher and writer. He is also one of Britain’s foremost Integrated Health Specialists with a special interest in cancer, and is director of his own dedicated cancer consultancy, www.integratedcancerhealthcare.co.uk, which specialises in providing information and research for people with cancer. (Please note that Chris Etheridge is not working as a qualified oncologist or as a registered practising medical practitioner.)
Chris served as President of the College of Practitioners of Phytotherapy (CPP) for 10 years (October 2016-October 2025). He is now a Fellow of the CPP and remains a Council Member and Director of the CPP. The CPP is one of the largest professional governing bodies (professional associations) in herbal medicine and sets the highest standards for the practice of herbal medicine.
Chris is also Chair of the British Herbal Medicine Association (BHMA), President of the European Herbal and Traditional Medicine Association, a board member of the European Scientific Cooperative on Phytotherapy (ESCOP) and a member of the British Pharmacopoeia's Expert Advisory Group on Herbal and Complementary Medicines. He is also on the steering committe for a brand new initiative - the Global Alliance for Integrative Health & Medicine (GAIHM) and for the College of Medicine’s Integrated Medicine Alliance (IMA) (collegeofmedicine.org.uk/ima/).
Chris was a visiting lecturer at the University of Westminster (westminster.ac.uk) before the herbal medicine course there sadly closed, and is currently a guest lecturer at: Lincoln College (lincolncollege.ac.uk), Centre for Nutrition Education (CNELM) (cnelm.co.uk), the Institute of Optimum Nutrition (ION) (ion.ac.uk), the Northern College of Acupuncture (chinese-medicine.co.uk), the White Crane Academy (whitecrane.academy), the Betonica School of Herbal Medicine (betonica.co.uk/), Heartwood education (heartwoodeducation.net/) and The Haven (thehaven.org.uk). He is a writer for the charity Action for ME (afme.org.uk) and has worked as a scientific advisor for Advanced Orthomolecular Research (aoreurope.co.uk), Potter’s Herbals (pottersherbals.co.uk), the UK Tea and Infusions Association (tea.co.uk), Twinings tea (twinings.co.uk/tea), the Health Supplements Information Service (hsis.org), Neolife (us.gnld.com), Puressentiel (puressentiel.com/uk/) and the charities Yes to Life (yestolife.org.uk) and Kids Integrated Cancer Treatment.
Chris has also worked as a scientific advisor for: Advanced Orthomolecular Research, Potter’s Herbals, UK Tea and Infusions Association, Twinings tea, Health Supplements Information Service, Neolife, Puressentiel and the charities Yes to Life (yestolife.org.uk) and Kids Integrated Cancer Treatment.
Chris holds a first class honours BSc and a PhD in Medicinal Chemistry from Imperial College, London. He was a Lecturer and Research Fellow in Gene Therapy in Imperial’s Department of Chemistry and in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics at St Mary’s Hospital, where he also received further training, from 1995-99. His research into gene therapy for cancer, cystic fibrosis, rheumatoid arthritis and Parkinson’s disease produced numerous publications (listed below) and three commercial medical patents, which resulted in a £3.5 million investment from Mitsubishi for the construction of a new Genetic Therapies Centre at Imperial College. Chris also co-founded a genetic therapy company, IC-Vec, through Imperial Innovations Ltd, in order to manufacture and supply his patented drugs for clinical use, and to carry out further gene therapy research to develop improved treatments for cystic fibrosis and rheumatoid arthritis. IC-Vec was subsequently purchased by the Mitsubishi Chemical Company.
Chris passionatelybelieves in the medicinal use of herbs as safer, effective alternatives and adjuncts to orthodox medicines, and he is fully committed to a holistic “whole person” approach to treating his patients. These values led him to complete his professional training on the four-year Herbal Medicine degree programme at the College of Phytotherapy, East Sussex. He graduated in 2006 with a first class honours BSc and published his award-winning dissertation on quality control in herbal medicine in the Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. (You can read the article here.)
Chris meets the strict professional training and standards of practice criteria designated by the EHTPA and is therefore allowed to use the EHTPA HerbMark© collective mark in his practice:
The EHTPA HerbMark© is a kite mark of quality that enables members of the public to choose a herbalist who is fully qualified and fit to practise. For more information please go to: ehtpa.org/consult-a-trusted-herbalist-look-out-for-the-herbmark/.
Chris chooses to only uses high quality, BHMA-approved herbal medicine products in his practice, whose manufacturers have been assessed to meet Good Herbal Maufacturing Supply Standards. These herbal manufacturers and products are allowed to use and display the BHMA HerbMark© collective mark.For more information please see: bhma.info/hpss/.
