Chris Kilham is a medicine hunter, author and educator. The founder of Medicine Hunter Inc., Chris has conducted medicinal research in over 20 countries including India, China, Siberia, Brazil, Venezuela, Peru, Chile, Vanuatu South Pacific, Lebanon, Syria, Ghana, Austria, Germany, Thailand, Malaysia, South Africa, Morocco and the United States.

Chris is the FOX News Medicine Hunter and appears on FOX News Health online in the US and international television markets. He also writes a weekly column for FOX News Health. Chris is Explorer in Residence at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst where he teaches the popular ethnobotany course The Shaman’s Pharmacy through the Department of Plant & Soil Sciences. This intensive immersion course takes students to the Peruvian Amazon, where they learn about medicinal plants, the rainforest, and native culture.

Chris works with companies to develop and popularize traditional plant-based food and medicinal products into market successes. These include kava, maca, rhodiola, schisandra, horny goat weed, catuaba, tamanu oil, herbal beverages and dozens of other plants. He is currently working to build market demand for cat’s claw and dragon’s blood, both strong medicinal plants from the Amazon rainforest.

Chris is the author of fourteen books, including Hot Plants, The Five Tibetans, Psyche Delicacies, Tales from the Medicine Trail and Kava, Medicine Hunting in Paradise. Chris also writes articles on plant medicines for several publications, and is a contributing columnist for FOX News Health. Richard Branson features Chris in his new book, Screw Business as Usual.

“I love adventure! That’s why I love teaming up with The Medicine Hunter, Chris Kilham.” - Dr. Manny Alverez, Fox News

Chris lectures extensively on holistic health and botanical medicines, throughout the United States and the European Union, Hong Kong, Thailand, Dubai, Australia, Peru, Vanuatu and many other countries. Recent appearances include The LOHAS Forum, 10th International Herb Symposium, The Vitamin Shoppe, In Cosmetics, American Herbalists Guild, Missouri Botanical Garden, Atlanta Botanical Garden, Medicines of the Earth Symposium, Natural Products EXPO East, Natural Products EXPO West, Southwest Yoga, Midwest Yoga, Plant Teacher's Convergence, University of Massachusetts, Evolvers, Geneva Vitafoods Conference and HBA New York.

As a guest expert, Chris has presented across a wide variety of sectors to companies such as; Coca Cola, Pepsi, Unilever, Pfizer, Roche, Beiersdorf, Avon, L’Oreal, Chanel, Clarens, Body Shop, Royal Canin, GNC, and Whole Foods. He is also a regular advisor to Woman’s World, Fox News Health, and various industry and trade publications.

Chris has appeared as a guest expert on over several hundred radio and television programs including news programs on ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, CNBC, CNN, MSNBC, BBC, Oprah & Friends, FOX TV, and NPR. He has appeared as a guest on The Dr. Oz Show, and is a regular guest on FOX News Ask Dr. Manny. As a TV guest he has spoken about medicine hunting, traditional botanical medicines, nutraceuticals, environmental and cultural preservation and other related topics for a wide variety of audiences. Chris has appeared on over 1500 radio programs and more than 500 TV programs worldwide.

Since October 2007 Medicine Hunter Chris Kilham has been featured in The New York Times, CNN, FOX News, The Dr. Oz Show, NBC Nightly News, ABC 20/20, Psychology Today, International Herald Tribune, CNBC Power Lunch, HD Net World Report, Prevention Magazine, Natural Health Magazine, Oprah & Friends, PBS Healing Quest, Better TV, Good Morning America, Ode Magazine, and Woman’s World.

Chris conducts medicinal plant research for Naturex of Avignon, France, one of the largest botanical extraction companies in the world. He is also an advisory board member of the Naturex Foundation, which funds community development projects in various countries.

Chris is on the Scientific Advisory board of EuroPharma, founded by pioneer Terry Lemerond. EuroPharma is a maker of superior plant-based medicines, distributed exclusively through the natural products industry.

An avid body surfer and adventure traveler, Chris lives and works in Massachusetts with his wife, artist/activist Zoe Helene and their dog Boo. Chris advocates sane drug policy and the shamanic and ritual use of hallucinogens. Chris and Zoe travel the globe on Medicine Hunter expeditions, and work together to promote plant medicines, environmental protection and cultural preservation. CNN calls Chris “The Indiana Jones of natural medicine.”

Yoga & Meditation Bio

Chris has also been a long-time speaker and presenter on yoga and meditation, at venues across the United States. Since 1971 Chris has taught yoga to thousands of people in classes at colleges, universities, dance centers, conferences, hospitals and jails. In his yoga presentations, Chris integrates information and methods of yoga, meditation and the martial arts, to enhance mind/body integration and sexual health, and to promote healthy aging. His best-selling yoga book, The Five Tibetans, is published in twenty languages. The New York Times describes Chris as "part David Attenborough, part Indiana Jones." A medicine hunter by profession, Chris travels the world in search of natural remedies, and appears on TV and radio programs globally. He has studied and learned from numerous yogis, mystics, shamans, and healers. As the FOX News Medicine Hunter his TV segments appear in over one hundred countries.

The Shaman's Pharmacy

Since 1994 Chris has worked, traveled and studied with shamans in Brazil, Peru and North America. He has participated in many dozens of ceremonies, both with and without the ingestion of ceremonial psychoactive drugs. He is experienced with ayahuasca, San Pedro cactus, peyote, coca, and tobacco.

Chris is recognized as a chief in Vanuatu, South Pacific, is known as “Maxipe” which means “black vulture” by the Macuxi indians, and has lived with and visited dozens of native tribes in Amazonia and in other cultures. Shamans in both Brazil and Peru recognize Chris as one of their kind and a bridger of worlds, and have engaged in numerous ceremonies to bolster his energy and support his work with medicinal plants and native cultures.

Medicine Hunter on FOX News

As the FOX News Medicine Hunter his TV segments appear in over one hundred countries. This current activity with FOX provides an opportunity to reach a lot of people. It puts Medicine Hunter in a position to play an influential role in advancing the conversation about medicinal plants. The FOX News Health site gets over one million unique visits daily.

Medicine Hunter on FOX News TV
Segments have featured cocoa, turmeric, acai, yerba mate, garlic, ginger, turmeric, hot chiles, red wine, chocolate, rhodiola, goji, hawthorn, and many other beneficial plants.

FOX News Health Medicine Hunter Column
Chris also authors a weekly column on Fox News Health, as The Medicine Hunter. Articles feature plant medicines such as chocolate, coffee, chilies, ginger, turmeric, echinacea, hot plants, adaptogens, sacred plants, ginkgo and many others.

Books by Chris Kilham

Along the way, Chris has written a number of books. They range from stories about medicine hunting to marketing for the Natural Products Industry, to practical advice on yoga practice and sexual health. A new edition of Chris’ popular yoga classic, The Five Tibetans, has been endorsemented by mind/body/spirit leaders such as Dr. Mehmet Oz and Deepak Chopra. Members of the media, please see Media Info.

Please visit Books by Chris Kilham for more details.

Updated October 2011