BSIO – growing and evolving together
As our two-year tenure as Co-Chairs of BSIO draws to a close, we reflect on how far we have all come as a community in the last two years. With the support of our wonderful Executive Committee and Council, as well as our administrative staff, we have made great progress and the momentum keeps growing. This is incredible, not only in the face of the challenges we have all experienced over the last few years, but also because our Committee and Council all volunteer their time alongside managing busy careers and multiple responsibilities to support the development of integrative oncology in the UK.
We started off in 2021 with a new website, formal BSIO membership structure and engagement with our audience through social media channels, as well as running our first conference with Progressive Communications (IOUK21) and commencing a new monthly webinar programme for our members in September 2021.
Building on this over the last two years, we now have:
Regular engagement via three social media channels, an active and growing website with well over 1,000 visits per month and an over 50% increase in BSIO newsletter subscribers
Nearly 150 BSIO members with a new institutional membership in progress
A varied webinar programme on a variety of topics, from the gastrointestinal microbiome and functional testing to yoga and yoga therapy, pain management, EFT, acupuncture and much more
We have also completed our third annual event with the BSIO Annual Conference in March 2023 receiving great reviews from a multidisciplinary group of attendees across the NHS, charity, and private sectors.
We have been working hard on increasing awareness of integrative oncology and BSIO’s work across multiple stakeholder groups. Over the last year alone, Dr Penny presented to several industry-led and NHS clinician groups, including the British Society for Lifestyle Medicine (BSLM) annual conference in 2022, the Gilead Breast cancer educational webinar programme (2022-2023), the Scottish Oncology Forum, and the Oxford Breast Cancer Buddy group, while Dr Nina presented at BOPA (British Oncology Pharmacy Association) 2022 conference, Spire Annual Cancer Conference 2023, and BANT (British Association for Nutrition and Lifestyle Medicine) AGM and Conference 2023. Both of us additionally worked on raising IO awareness at both 2022 and 2023 IPM (Integrative and Personalised Medicine) Congresses in London and co-chaired a CPD webinar for IDF (Independent Doctors Federation), followed by Dr Nina’s article in the IDF Annual Journal. We also involved undergraduate and postgraduate students with Dr Penny teaching Warwick Medical School students and students at the National Centre for Integrative Medicine in Bristol, and Dr Nina running an integrative oncology workshop for BSc Oncology students at Imperial College London.
Finally, we collaborated with our SIO (Society for Integrative Oncology) colleagues through a joint webinar, creating the combined SIO-BSIO membership, collaborating on guideline development, and participating in SIO Specialist Interest Groups. We also enjoyed meeting many members of the SIO team in person at the Research and Training Workshop in Cyprus in May 2023, as research and education in integrative oncology is very important for the spread of best practice in UK and globally.
Next steps
As much as we enjoyed leading BSIO activities over the last two years, it is time to pass the baton and focus on the next challenge. Aga Kehinde and Dr Carol Granger will be taking over as BSIO Co-Chairs from July 2023, working closely with our Executive Committee, BSIO Council and our administrator, Jane Bains. As our next contribution to BSIO’s work, alongside continuing to sit on the BSIO Executive Committee, we will be co-chairing the new Clinical Practice and Education Committee. The committee will have a particular focus on postgraduate education and training with outreach across all three sectors to support best clinical practice in Integrative Oncology (IO), as well as publications to increase IO awareness and to support dissemination and adaptation of IO guidelines within the UK. We are working on the full committee scope statement and composition, so please watch out for further details in autumn 2023.
We are deeply grateful to the BSIO Executive Committee, Council, webinar and conference speakers and BSIO member community for all their hard work and contribution to the field of integrative oncology in the UK. It has been a wonderful two years of co-chairing BSIO, and we look forward to growing and evolving together for many more.
Blog written by
Dr Nina Fuller-Shavel, Integrative Medicine Physician, Scientist and Educator, Director of Synthesis Clinic, Co-Founder of Oncio CIC, Co-Chair of BSIO (2021-2023)
Dr Penny Kechagioglou, Consultant Clinical Oncologist, Chief Clinical Information Officer and Deputy Chief Medical Officer, University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire, Co-Founder of Oncio CIC, Co-Chair of BSIO (2021-2023)