Integrative Medicine Matters is a podcast from the National Centre for Integrative Medicine (NCIM), where NCIM’s Founder & CEO Dr Elizabeth Thompson explores new models of healthcare, bringing together conventional, lifestyle, functional and holistic approaches with experts from across the globe who want to see a transformation in healthcare.
No Visible Disease: How Dale Atkinson Refused to Accept a Terminal Cancer Diagnosis
In one of the most extraordinary conversations to appear on the Integrative Medicine Matters podcast, Dr Elizabeth Thompson speaks with Dale Atkinson, a former financial crime investigator who was diagnosed with stage four oesophageal cancer in October 2024 and given less than twelve months to live. By July 2025 he had no visible signs of disease. This is his story.
Medicine Rooted in Nature: Jayn Sterland on Biodynamic Farming, Integrative Health and the Wisdom of Weleda
In this richly inspiring conversation, Dr Elizabeth Thompson welcomes Jayn Sterland, Managing Director of Weleda, to explore what happens when business, nature and integrative health collide.
Homeopathy and the Human Side of Oncology with Dr Jean Lionel Bagot
Dr Jean-Lionel Bagot, founder of France’s first outpatient integrative oncology centre in Strasbourg, joins Dr Elizabeth Thompson to share his vision of a medicine that was never meant to be divided. Drawing on decades of clinical experience in oncology, palliative care, and homeopathy, Dr Bagot makes a passionate case that Integrative Medicine is not a new idea, it is simply good medicine, with the patient at its centre.
# 29 Intensive Care to Aromatherapy: One Nurse’s Journey to the Heart of Healing with Rhiannon Lewis
In this brilliant episode of Integrative Medicine Matters, Dr Elizabeth Thompson sits down with Rhiannon Lewis, a former intensive care nurse turned clinical aromatherapist, educator and founder of the International Clinical Aromatherapy Network, a global community of over 2000 practitioners in more than 90 countries.
# 28 From Pharmacy to Ayurveda: One Practitioner’s Journey to the Root Cause with Bobby Sira
In this rich and wide ranging episode of Integrative Medicine Matters, Dr Elizabeth Thompson sits down with Bobby Sira, a pharmacist turned integrative practitioner whose extraordinary journey has taken him from the world of conventional pharmacy through Ayurveda, yoga, functional medicine and integrative oncology.
# 27 Functional Medicine, Spirituality and the Art of Whole Person Care with Dr Sally Bramley
In this rich and deeply moving episode of Integrative Medicine Matters, Dr Elizabeth Thompson sits down with Dr Sally Bramley, a conventionally trained doctor who found her way to integrative and functional medicine through two pivotal experiences: a serious illness that shook her to her core, and a period of profound aliveness spent in New Zealand that opened her eyes to what health could truly feel like.
# 26 Killing Carbs: The Answer to Type 1 Diabetes? with Dr Ian Lake
In this fascinating episode of Integrative Medicine Matters, Dr Elizabeth Thompson sits down with Dr Ian Lake, a biochemist turned GP who also happens to have lived with Type 1 diabetes for over 30 years.
# 25 The King’s Physician Who Changed British Healthcare with Dr Michael Dixon
In this inspiring episode of Integrative Medicine Matters, Dr Elizabeth Thompson sits down with Dr Michael Dixon GP, pioneer and one of the most quietly revolutionary figures in British healthcare.
# 24 Nature’s Pharmacy: The Science of Medicinal Mushrooms in Cancer Care with Catalina Fernández de Ana Portela
Dr Elizabeth Thompson sits down with Dr Catalina Fernández de Ana, founder of Hifas da Terra, a science-led medicinal mushroom company spun out of the University of Santiago de Compostela, for a fascinating and wide-ranging conversation about the emerging role of mycotherapy in integrative oncology.
# 23 Transforming Paediatric Care with Integrative Medicine with Dr Hilary McClafferty
In this inspiring episode, Dr Elizabeth Thompson speaks with Dr Hilary McClafferty, a board-certified paediatric emergency medicine physician and founder of the Academy of Pediatric Integrative Medicine, about the transformative potential of integrative medicine in paediatric care.
# 22 Your Genes Are Not Your Destiny: The Science Behind Anxiety, Energy and Calm with Emma Beswick
In this fascinating episode of Integrative Medicine Matters, Dr Elizabeth Thompson sits down with Emma Beswick, nutritionist and founder of LifeCode GX, for a wide ranging and deeply personal conversation about nutrigenomics and what our genes can tell us about our health.
# 21 The Whole Person Prescription: Lifestyle Medicine with Dr John Sykes
Dr Elizabeth Thompson speaks with GP and lifestyle medicine advocate Dr John Sykes about why true health goes far beyond managing biomarkers. Drawing on his work both in the NHS and private practice, John makes the case for whole person care — addressing physical activity, nutrition, sleep, mental wellbeing, harmful substances and social connection as the real foundations of health.