Lara McClure is a researcher, a storyteller and a Hypnotherapist. She has delivered the Research content of the MSc in Chinese Herbal Medicine at the Northern College of Acupuncture for the past ten years as well as being Course Director for the college’s BSc in Acupuncture since 2014. Lara supervises students on all the NCA’s MSc courses and is especially keen to support them to publish their findings. Lara holds a BA and an MA from Cambridge, a PhD from the University of York and a PGCHE as well as an Advanced Diploma in Clinical Hypnosis.

Lily Lai PhD is an experienced TCM practitioner-researcher and has been in clinical practice for 16 years. In 2010, she was awarded a prestigious 3-year NIHR research training fellowship to carry out her PhD at the University of Southampton. Her research explored the use of Chinese herbs for polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) in primary medical care, the first project of its kind to be funded by the NHS. She has since published peer-reviewed publications on a wide range of topics from women’s health to medical education and has been involved in a number of primary care projects relating to herbal prescribing for respiratory tract infections and COPD. In the clinic, she uses Chinese herbs most frequently for complex chronic conditions such as PCOS, endometriosis and more recently long COVID.

Dr Po-Hsun Chen is a PhD candidate at the Centre for the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine, the University of Manchester, UK. He is also a physician trained in biomedicine and traditional Chinese medicine at Chang Gung University, Taiwan (2007-2015). Chen then practised TCM in the Chinese Medicine Department, Tainan Hospital, Ministry of Health and Welfare. Taiwan (2016-2020). As an adjunct lecturer in 2018, he taught the history of TCM at the Chung Hwa University of Medical Technology, Taiwan. Chen obtains his master's degree in social science from National Yang Ming University, Taiwan (2015-2018). His research interests lie mainly in the history of herbs, particularly the interaction between materials, actors, and regulations in modern society.