Simon Mills

Schooling:  Jordan, London, New Zealand

Graduate:  University of Cambridge, Medical Sciences 1970

Professional training:  National Institute of Medical Herbalists 1974-77

Phytotherapy practice:  1977 -

Consultant to the consumer health industry: 1990 - 2003

Positions held

Senior Teaching Fellow in Integrated Health Care, Peninsula Medical School, Universities of Exeter and Plymouth: 2004 - the first medical school in Britain to establish a programme in Integrated Health Care.

Professional Member, Herbal Medicines Advisory Committee: 2006  - the first statutory committee for herbal medicines in the UK, providing advice to UK Government Ministers and to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA)

Founder Director, MSc Program in Herbal Medicine, Tai Sophia Institute, Columbia, Maryland, USA: 2000 - the first accredited Masters of Science Degree Program in herbal medicine in the USA

Secretary, European Scientific Cooperative on Phytotherapy (ESCOP): 1997 - a European association of national organisations concerned with promoting at EU level, harmonised standards for the quality, safety and efficacy of herbal medicinal products in law; pan-European drug dossiers produced by large team of ESCOP researchers now being reviewed formally for publication by the European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products (EMEA), the European drugs agency

President, the British Herbal Medicine Association:  2004 -2006, Chairman 1999 -2004 ; Vice-Chairman, 1995 - 99;  Council Member:  1983 - the association primarily engaged in setting public standards for herbal medicines, and negotiating with Government the terms of their availability within the Medicines Act 1968.

Founder Director, Centre for Complementary Health Studies, University of Exeter:  1987-2000 -  the Centre was the first university Centre in the developed world specifically devoted to the study of health care outside the conventional medical curriculum, providing taught postgraduate courses for health professionals and a wide-ranging research programme, including clinical trials on herbal medicines; established first Chair in Complementary Medicine.

Member, Council of the Prince of Wales's Foundation for Integrated Health 1998 -2003; Member initial Steering Committee on Integrated Healthcare; Co-Chairman, Regulation Working Group: 1996-2001

Specialist Adviser, House of Lords Select Committee on Complementary and Alternative Medicine 1999-2000 - the British Government acted on all the Committee's conclusions.

President, College of Practitioners of Phytotherapy:  1998 - 2002; Founder member: 1993 - an organisation of herbal practitioners with a research and continuing professional development agenda and a mission to engage the wider healthcare professional community

Project Coordinator, EC BIOMED Research Project:  Determining European standards for the safe and effective use of phytomedicines:  1993 -1997 - a scientific and medical programme that involved 21 research centres across Europe, with a budget of £260,000.

Co-Editor, the British Herbal Pharmacopoeia:  1994 - published by the British Herbal Medicine Association, has since 1983 set unprecedented analytical and quality standards for medicinal plants and is used by government departments around the world; the 1996 edition was launched by the Director of the Government's Medicines Control Agency.

Member, Advisory Panel on Botanicals, United States Pharmacopeia:  2002 -

President, the National Institute of Medical Herbalists:  1983-88, 1990-91; Council member: 1979-92 - founded in 1864 and the oldest professional body of medical herbalists in the western world; taking as members only graduates of specialist 4-year medical, botanical and clinical training courses with BSc qualifications.

Founding Member, the British Acupuncture Accreditation Board: 1989-96 - the first independent national review body, established in co-operation with the acupuncture colleges and professions, to set and validate educational and professional training standards in the public interest.

Founding Chairman, the Council for Complementary and Alternative Medicine:  1985-89 - the first national association of professional bodies of complementary and alternative medicine that have substantial training and comprehensive codes of ethics and practice, launched by former Prime Minister Lord Home in the House of Commons; personal work included instigating the first independent validating body for complementary medical training, the British Acupuncture Accreditation Board, chaired by Lord Baldwin.

Founder Trustee and Council Member, the Research Council for Complementary Medicine: 1983-90 - the first independent research council in this area.

Associate Editor, Complementary Therapies in Medicine, publisher Churchill Livingstone: Founder Member, Editorial Board,  1992 -

Member, Planning Group on Conventional and Complementary Medicine, Royal Society of Medicine: 1984-87

Books

The Essential Guide to Herbal Safety (with Kerry Bone) - Churchill Livingstone 2005  ISBN 0 443 171 3

Principles and Practice of Phytotherapy (with Kerry Bone) - Churchill Livingstone 2000 ISBN 0 443 060169  

Woman Medicine, Amberwood, 1994 and 1999

Out of the Earth:  The Essential Book of Herbal Medicine, Viking, 1991

Alternatives in Healing, Macmillan, 1988

The Dictionary of Modern Herbalism, Thorsons, 1985  ; The Complete Guide to Modern Herbalism,  1994)   (transl:  Diccionario del Moderno Herborismo Madrid 1986 ; Dizionario delle Erbe Milano 1986