Dr Chris Etheridge

Christopher Etheridge is a leading Medical Herbalist (Phytotherapist) with extensive experience as a herbal practitioner, published researcher and writer.

Chris is Chair of the British Herbal Medicine Association (BHMA), Chair of the Herbal Practitioner Supplier’s Scheme (HPSS), President of the College of Practitioners of Phytotherapy (CPP) and President of the European Herbal and Traditional Medicines Professional Association (EHTPA).

Mark Blumenthal

Mark Blumenthal is the Founder and Executive Director of the American Botanical Council (ABC), an independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to disseminating accurate, reliable, and responsible information on herbs and medicinal plants. He is the Editor/Publisher of HerbalGram, an international, peer-reviewed quarterly journal, the contents of which reflect the educational goals of ABC. Mark has served as Co-Founder and former Vice-President of the Herb Research Foundation (HRF) and President of the Herb Trade Association. He was also a founding board member of the American Herbal Products Association (AHPA).

Tiziana Sgamma

Tiziana Sgamma is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, De Montfort University, leading the Biomolecular Technology Group. Her main research focus is the development of DNA barcoding tests used for quality control and authentication of plant materials used in herbal medicines. 

Suky Bhamra

Suky Bhamra is a Senior Lecturer at the Medway School of Pharmacy, specialising in teaching dermatology and pharmacy practice. Her research focuses on ethnopharmacology and the current trends in the use of natural products. She is the co-chair (Prof. M. Heinrich) of the Drugs from natural sources focus group at the Academy of Pharmaceutical Sciences; and a member of the scientific committee for the Society for Medicinal Plants and Natural Products Research.

Vicky Murray

Vicky Murray is a freelance sustainability advisor. She recently worked with the Herbal Alliance on their sustainability review. Vicky has worked as a sustainability professional for over 20 years, including heading up sustainability projects at Pukka Herbs and before that at Neal’s Yard Remedies. She has a deep knowledge in the sustainability of herbal supply chains and a profound love of herbs. With a knack for making complex sustainability challenges easy to understand, Vicky specialises in facilitating organisations and groups through processes to plan their response to sustainability challenges, and to take action. She lives with her family in North Devon.

Lynda Scammell

Lynda works as the Head of Borderlines in the Healthcare Quality and Access Group at the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

As a result of the Transformation Programme undertaken at MHRA between 20122 / 22, the Medicines Borderline and Medical Devices Borderlines teams were amalgamated and Lynda took up post as Head in May 2022. However, she is not new to MHRA, having spent more than 30 years in the Criminal Enforcement Group.

Lynda is also the Chair of the Expert Working Group on illegal activity involving medical products (C-Med) for the European Directorate for Quality of Medicines (EDQM) under a partial agreement with the Council of Europe – and has been involved in training events / awareness raising initiatives in the EU, Eastern Europe and Africa. Under her Chairpersonship, she has overseen the setting up of a Borderlines sub-group and there is a useful platform for regulators across Member States to seek advice and to share intelligence about borderline products.