Lily Lai, PhD

Lily graduated from her acupuncture and CHM course at Middlesex University with First Class Honours in 2005. She has combined a busy practice with a ground breaking career as a practitioner-researcher and she currently holds a visiting academic position at Southampton University. In 2015 she completed her PhD, funded by the NIHR School for Primary Care Research, which included a trial exploring the use of Chinese herbal medicine for the treatment of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome in primary care. This was the first such trial in the UK and is a recognized piece of pioneering research. Her current research interests are in expanding the evidence-base for Chinese and Western herbal medicine by evaluating interventions in primary care, and in improving access to research for practitioners through teaching core research skills such as critically analysing commonly-encountered research designs.