About the Author

Lakshman Karalliedde grew up in Sri Lanka amidst a strong belief and heritage of Ayurveda medicine but chose to study allopathic medicine. He did his postgraduate studies in the UK and then practised in Sri Lanka for several decades, where he taught and researched in anaesthesia, pharmacology and toxicology with a special interest in pesticide poisoning and snake envenoming. He has been working at Guy's & St Thomas' Hospitals for the past ten years, continuing his teaching and research interests, and spent several years as a toxicologist at the Medical Toxicology Unit of Guy's & St Thomas' Hospital (a collaborating centre of the WHO South East Asia Regional Office). He is now a toxicologist with the Chemical Hazards and Poisons Division of the Health Protection Agency. He has edited books on drug interactions and organophosphate toxicity and published widely on poisoning and interactions (including herbal medicines) and contributed to Davidson's Principles & Practice of Medicine. Debbie Shaw heads the herbals work at the Chinese Medicine Advisory Service, Medical Toxicology Unit (MTU), Guy's & St Thomas's NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK. She has been actively involved in reviewing and investigating suspected adverse reactions to herbal and traditional medicines for the past 11 years. She works closely with the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew and has participated in the development of the Chinese Medicinal Plants Authentication Centre. She is a member of the Herbal Signals Review Panel for the Uppsala Monitoring Centre (WHO Collaborating Centre for International Drug Monitoring), and an advisor to the American Herbal Pharmacopoeia. Indika Gawarammana is Consultant Physician and Senior Lecturer in Medicine at the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, and was formerly Registrar at the Medical Toxicology Unit (MTU), Guy's & St Thomas's NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK. His interest in the efficacy and safe use of herbal medicines stems from his upbringing in an environment of traditional medicines while training in allopathic medical practice.