Meet The ECS Botanics
Medical Advisory Board
Medical Advisory Board
ECS’ Medical Advisory Board plays a crucial role in guiding our business to patient activities based on sound medical principles. These advisors are all experienced Medical Practitioners who are considered thought leaders in medicinal cannabis medicine. They understand the value of good clinical practice and advice and the value of having medicinal cannabis as an option to support patient wellbeing. We value the expert knowledge they bring to ECS Botanics as a member of our medical advisory board.
Dr Rupert Backhouse
Medical Advisory Board Member
Rupert has been a GP in Mandurah WA for over 30 years. He has had an enduring passion for helping people with complex mental, physical and social problems. He has been a cannabis prescriber for over five years and seen the benefits of cannabis in many patients who have struggled to find relief of their symptoms from recommended interventions.
In addition, Rupert has a very strong background in treatment of addiction problems and seen the harms that can arise from cannabis and believes passionately in the safe and sensible use of cannabis as a medicine.
Dr Phil Burrell
Medical Advisory Board Member
Dr Burrell is a founding partner of The Lockyer Doctors. Over 40 years he has treated up to four generations of many families. His interests have been in Geriatric Medicine, paediatrics and minor surgery. He now has a strong focus on the benefits of medicinal cannabis in his broad patient demographic. Dr Burrell’s career as a Specialist GP enables professional insight to review and assess management regimes and consider if an alternative management pathway for patient’s individual needs is appropriate.
Dr Natasha Feingold
Medical Advisory Board Member
Dr Natasha Feingold is a GP who consults in mental health, women’s health, chronic disease and sexual health. Dr Feingold is a medical school lecturer at University of Notre Dame and an RACGP fellowship examiner for GP registrars.
Natasha is dedicated to providing good quality medical education to her peers and continues to facilitate educational webinars for GPs across Australia so they can continue to provide outstanding, evidence-based care. Additionally, she was appointed to the NSW/ACT RACGP faculty to advocate for junior GPs and has helped run wellbeing conferences for doctors and their families. Dr Feingold is also involved in a few general practice research projects ranging from skin cancer to chronic disease management, and has consulted on several scientific advisory boards for pharmaceutical companies.
Dr Feingold has a postgraduate Medical and Masters of Health Science degree from the University of Sydney.
Dr Charlotte Middleton
Medical Advisory Board Member
Dr Charlotte Middleton is a specialist integrative GP with 25 years clinical experience. She specialises in women’s and children’s health, autoimmune diseases, gastrointestinal health, mental health, and preventive and lifestyle medicine. Driven by a passion for uncovering the root cause of disease, she combines evidence-based complementary therapies with conventional medicine for enhanced patient outcomes.
A longtime digital health advocate, Dr Middleton has held executive roles in health technology companies for the past nine years, providing clinical oversight for both clinician and patient facing digital health products. Dr Middleton runs her own business, Nexus Integrative Medicine, an educational platform, focusing on the many benefits and practical use of integrative medicine and is a Medical Advisor for companies in mental health, and women’s health.
A recognised speaker and educator, she’s appeared in several TV segments, medical educational videos, guest panels and numerous publications.
Dr Christopher Schneider
Medical Advisory Board Member
Dr. Christopher Schneider is a gastroenterologist and hepatologist.
After completing his physician’s training at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, he returned to Canada to specialise in digestive/liver diseases. He worked as an A/Prof of Gastroenterology at the University of Manitoba and brought innovation such as Manitoba’s first faecal transplant.
Dr Schneider has been working as a Gastroenterology Consultant at Eastern Health since 2019. He has been using medicinal cannabis for eight years in his practice. He is currently completing the world’s largest trial in IBS called the CALM-GUT trial based in Melbourne with satellite sites throughout Australia.
He has a Bachelor of Science in zoology/microbiology and an MD from the University of Ottawa.
Dr Justin Welsh
Medical Advisory Board Member
In early 1994, Justin Welsh sustained a severe closed head injury in a motor vehicle accident. The long recovery made him a believer of holistic medicine and proponent of disease prevention through health promotion.
Dr Welsh graduated from Monash University in 1998. He helps patients maintain health and happiness through a stable foundation of positive lifestyle strategies.
He believes chronic disease, including pain, is the greatest burden on our health system today and that it is far better to maintain a healthy and well life than to try and sustain an unhealthy and unwell one. In 2017, Justin was in the first cohort of doctors to become an Authorised Prescriber of medicinal cannabis.
Today, DrJustinWelsh.com.au is one of the leading medicinal cannabis prescribers in Australia with more than 4,000 prescriptions for medicinal cannabis products including dried flower, extracts, oil cartridges, oral liquids, edibles, capsules and wafers written by him in the first six months of 2024.