about dr. elisabeth philipps phd
I’m a clinical neuroscientist specialising in the endocannabinoid system – a system that connects every organ and pathway in the body including the brain, immune and digestive system - and which is influenced by CBD (a hemp based food supplement) and medicinal cannabis.
I help people navigate the multiple levels of their health using lifestyle and diet to gain awareness, create real change and inspire positive action so they may find their level of personal freedom.
I’m a yoga fiend and love nothing more than paddleboarding, kayaking and walking with my gorgeous Border Terrier on the trails around the Dorset Jurassic coast.
It's always a tricky one for me, trying to define what I do in a couple of words. Clinical Neuroscientist is probably the best mainstream description. I’ve always been fascinated by the brain but it was during neuroscience lectures with Professor Webster during my Biomedical Sciences BSc at Kings College London (KCL) back in the distant 1990s that sealed my dedication to furthering our understanding of how the brain functions in health and disease.
Current work
In the last 3 years I’ve turned my clinical gaze to a little known but super critical system in the body - the endocannabinoid system (ECS) - because of its importance in underlying all aspects of our day to day physical and emotional health. Read more.
No one in the public eye (or clinical settings for that matter) is really talking about the ECS, but when I look at the evidence and see the ECS linked to such a diverse range of conditions to anxiety, pain, sleep problems, trauma, stress, immune health and hormone balance I’m on a mission to raise awareness because currently it really is a crucial “missing link” to health and disease. Read more.
I currently collate and translate ECS research into a clinical setting and (perhaps more importantly) easy to follow, practical steps for everyone to understand more. Coupled to this I'm a passionate and vocal advocate of CBD as a food supplement, as well as medicinal cannabis. And it’s in these areas that I’m actively involved in raising awareness for clinicians, practitioners, consumers, as well as athletes, especially those involved in contact sport where traumatic brain injuries are an unfortunate regular occurrence.
I also regularly write and speak through a variety of different public and professional journals, magazines and media channels, as well as a regular speaker and chair at health conferences, where I present my translational research and raise awareness of the ECS, CBD, medicinal cannabis and other plant nutrients in all aspects of human health.
This is why I’m really excited to have founded
the Bliss Programme.
This NEW world-exclusive programme is your chance to work with me using a lifestyle medicine approach to optimise your ECS and get the best out of phytocannabinoids like CBD.
For more information follow me on social media
and to register your interest click below
I'm also passionate about using nutrition and lifestyle to better support the connections between our gut and brain (the gut-brain axis) and the ECS, as well as supporting a healthy gut microbiome, which contributes to all aspects of our physical and psychological health. That’s why I'm proud that part of my consultancy includes being the in-house neuroscientist and nutritionist at the world-renowned Sourdough School where we're currently undertaking research and promoting the health benefits of fermented foods, including sourdough, on gut and brain health.
“Our human self is neither purely energy or physical matter - we’re a magical combination of the seen and unseen.”
IHCAN Conference Nov 2019
where i starteD
I graduated from KCL in 1997 with a great grounding in human science and medicine, having specialised in Neuroscience, and took up a research PhD (DPhil) in neuropharmacology at Oxford University. It’s here, in the city of dreaming spires that I spent three very happy and exciting years at the Department of Pharmacology researching the assembly of a particular glutamate receptor protein (the NMDA receptor) found mainly in our brains, which, when it goes wrong, is a factor in the breakdown of brain pathways (neurodegeneration) in conditions like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.
My seminal research culminated in completing my doctorate in 2000 and from here I progressed into pharmaceutical research, leading a team of neuro-biochemists and pharmacologists in ground-breaking research continuing to further our understanding of why brain pathways fail in processes of neurodegeneration, as well as identifying brain targets in conditions like anxiety.
So far, so normal for life of a research scientist.
Career evolution
But it's from here, with an unforeseen turn of events that life often deals to jolt us out of our comfort zone that I began to expand my desire to more fully understand and join the dots between health and disease, and not just to view the brain as a purely functional set of physical connections and pathways.
My scientific juices started to flow: What connects our physical, psychological, emotional and energetic health? And what factors impact these delicately balanced and seemingly inextricably linked pathways?
So what was this this jolt in my life? Well, at the height of my research career I developed Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) going from senior research leader to bed-bound patient literally overnight (I’d also experienced CFS during my early teenage years missing Year 9 of school). It took several months to summons the energy to even be able to sit up in bed for any length of time but as the months rolled on I gradually started doing what I do best and research how the heck to get better.
Fast forward 17 years, one Nutritional Medicine BSc and one Institute of Functional Medicine AFMCP qualification later to add to my knowledge fold, and I cured myself, restoring my health to better levels of energy and resilience than I had before. And from this I naturally moved away from the lab bench and evolved into a more holistic clinical practitioner where, for over a decade, I’ve been using my extensive knowledge and experience in neuroscience; human anatomy, physiology and biochemistry; nutrition; resilience and lifestyle hacks, with a holistic connective approach, to help people gain awareness and create change to find their own personal freedom.
It's not all work, work, work!
I’m a total believer that our true health and resilience is found through internally generated happiness and this comes from balance in every aspect of our physical, energetic and spiritual lives. Yes, I love my work and in many ways it’s more of a vocation than something I feel tied to. Everyday I’m researching or reading something that will help me improve my own health. But I also love nothing more than being in the present moment, away from mind-dominated thinking – you can find me in these moments on my yoga mat (CBD really helps my daily practice) and on/in rivers and seas, be it paddle boarding, kayaking or just bobbing about enjoying the water sounds and big nature scenes.
Nature, in all its guises, is by far the biggest healer so walking my gorgeous Border Terrier keeps me connected and in my zone, as does hunting for the magical and mystical ammonite fossils on the beautiful Jurassic coast beaches of Dorset. I have quite the collection as you can see!
And the scientist in me can’t help but experiment in the kitchen so check out my social channels
and sign up for my FREE ABC of CBD booklet that includes some tasty, easy CBD recipes.
And for now, with all that life has dealt me, I’m living by this maxim and want to help you to as well:
Don't just live your life to its fullest length; live the full width of it as well.
Bring on the next chapter…….