Herbs and Natural Supplements, Volume 2

Dr Lesley Braun is a registered pharmacist and naturopath. She holds a PhD from RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia, in which she investigated the integration of complementary medicine into hospitals in Victoria. Dr Braun is an Adjunct associate Professor of Integrative Medicine at the National Institute of Complementary Medicine at the University of Western Sydney in Australia. NICM provides leadership and support for strategically directed research into complementary medicine and translation of evidence into clinical practice and relevant policy to benefit the health of all Australians.

Dr Braun serves on the Australian Therapeutic Goods Advisory Council which oversees the implementation of TGA reforms and provides general strategic guidance to the TGA, advice on relationships and communication with stakeholders. She is also on the executive for the Complementary and Integrative Therapies interest group of the Clinical Oncology Society of Australia and an advisory board member to the Australasian Integrative Medicine Association. As of 2014, she is also the Director of Blackmore’s Institute, the academic and professional arm of Blackmores, which entails engaging with a broad range of academics, government and industry bodies and overseeing a comprehensive academic and research program.

Since 1996 she has authored numerous chapters for books and more than 100 articles, and since 2000 has written regular columns for the Australian Journal of Pharmacy and the Journal of Complementary Medicine. She lectures to medical students at Monash University and to chiropractic students at RMIT University, and is regularly invited to present at national and international conferences about evidence-based complementary medicine, drug interactions, complementary medicine safety and her own clinical research.

Her role as the main author of Herbs and Natural Supplements — An Evidence-based Guide represents a continuation of a life-long goal to integrate evidence-based complementary medicine into standard practice and improve patient outcomes safely and effectively.