Professor Gerry Bodeker

My mission in life and work has been to help unlock and unfold the vast reserves of human potential that we are born with but rarely actualize to the fullest. After working for eight years in Australia with indigenous communities, I undertook doctoral studies at Harvard and have, for more than three decades, researched and advised on integrative medicine and wellness. This includes more than two decades in medical sciences at Oxford University and as an adjunct professor of epidemiology at Columbia University. My consultative work has been with the private sector, governments and UN organizations, including WHO, the World Bank, and the Asian Development Bank, advising on culturally themed wellness policy and strategies. Recently, my colleagues and I authored a chapter on Wellbeing and Mental Wellness in the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Global Public Health as well as a chapter on the health of indigenous peoples. With colleagues, I am currently working on two books on healthy ageing and wellbeing in Asia, and have previously published six books in the fields of traditional and complementary medicine, medicinal plants, and mental wellbeing. And in Borneo, partners and I established a tropical rainforest immersion project, Ayus Wellness, in the heart of the 528 sq km Mulu UNESCO Heritage Park for accessing the deeply restorative power of Nature.