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Join our upcoming 3rd Malaysian Lifestyle Medicine Conference 2023

27th to 29th October 2025

Venue
To be Confirmed

About the  Conference

Mental health challenges have reached unprecedented levels worldwide. According to the World Health Organisation, 970 million people globally are living with a mental disorder, with anxiety and depression being the most common.

Globally, mental disorders account for 1 in 6 years lived with disability. Mortality is higher in people with severe mental health conditions and their lifespan is shortened by 10 to 20 years. Mental health condition also increases the risk of suicide.

This alarming trend is also reflected in Malaysia. According to the National Health and Morbidity Survey (NHMS) 2023, depression in Malaysia has doubled since 2019, with over one million individuals aged 15 and above suffering from this condition. Younger age groups, particularly those aged between 16 to 29, are among the most affected, with nearly half experiencing thoughts of self-harm or suicide.

Growing recognition of the global impact of mental illness has led to a movement to find solutions not only to manage and treat mental illness but also to promote positive mental wellbeing.

Opening Ceremony of the 2024 Lifestyle Conference held on December 2024

Historically, lifestyle medicine has focused on the prevention, management, and treatment of physical ailments such as heart disease and diabetes, but there is growing evidence that lifestyle-based strategies can effectively improve mental health and emotional well-being, often at levels comparable to pharmacological intervention. Accordingly, there is an increasing call from outside the lifestyle medicine community to use lifestyle-based strategies for the prevention, management, and treatment of mental health conditions.1 It is important that lifestyle medicine responds to this call because mental health is one of the major health challenges of our time, 

This year, the Malaysian Society of Lifestyle Medicine (MSLM) invites healthcare professionals, policymakers, and wellness advocates to join us in exploring transformative strategies to combat this mental health crisis.

The conference this year with the theme Reimagining Mental Health with Lifestyle Medicine centres on integrating evidence-based, lifestyle intervention—such as diet, physical activity, stress management, sleep optimization, substance reduction, and fostering positive relationships—into mental health care. Attendees will discover how these pillars, combined with addressing social determinants of health, can significantly enhance mental and emotional resilience.

With insights from leading experts, interactive workshops, mindfulness practices, and networking opportunities, this two-day conference and pre-conference workshop   is an unparalleled platform to learn, share, and collaborate in reshaping the future of mental health care.

Conference Highlights

Lifestyle Medicine In Mental Health

Exploring The Intersection Of Mental Health And Chronic Diseases

Social Determinants Of Health In Mental Health

Exploring The Food -Emotion Connection

Role Of Ultra-processed Food In The Mental Health Crisis

How Does The Gut Microbiome Influence Mental Health?

The Science Of Happiness

Positive Psychology In Mental Wellbeing

Loneliness Epidemic And Mental Health Disorders

The Power Of Connection

Sleep -Circardian Interface And Mental Disorders

The Stress-Mitochondria Connection

Restoring Mental Health And Mindfulness

Boosting The Endorphins With Physical Activity

Double Burden Of Tobacco Use And Mental Illness

Connection Between Alzheimer’s And Depression

Is Social Media Fuelling The Mental Health Crisis?

Mental Health Lessons From The Blue Zones

Welcome  Message

On behalf of the Malaysian Society of Lifestyle Medicine, it gives me great pleasure to welcome you, to the 5th Malaysian Lifestyle Medicine Conference from the 27th to the 29th of October 2025 at Berjaya Times Square Hotel. This year’s conference is scheduled to be a hybrid conference. Following the conference is the Board Certification Examination in Lifestyle Medicine on the 30th of October 2025.

This year’s theme, Reimagining Mental Health with Lifestyle Medicine, reflects our commitment to addressing one of the most pressing health challenges of our time. Mental health is not just an individual concern but a societal issue that demands holistic and innovative solutions.

At MSLM, we believe in the profound interconnectedness of the mind and body. Our approach is rooted in empowering individuals and communities to adopt lifestyle modifications that promote both mental and physical well-being. While we acknowledge the importance of medication for severe cases, our focus is on equipping healthcare professionals with tools and strategies to prevent, manage, and treat mental health conditions through lifestyle interventions.

 

The scientific program this year highlights the integral role of nutrition, physical activity, sleep, stress management social connectedness and more in mental health care. We’ll also delve into the social determinants of health, recognizing that issues such as inequality, poverty, and chronic stress significantly contribute to mental distress. Our distinguished speakers, representing expertise from across the globe, will offer practical insights and innovative approaches to these challenges.

This conference is not just an academic gathering; it is a call to action. We invite physicians and allied health professionals to attend this exciting conference, which has lectures, workshops, forums, mindfulness session and more. You will learn about strategies to help your patients promote mental wellbeing and to keep mental illness at bay. It also gives you an opportunity to network and forge relationships with like-minded healthcare professionals.

Let us work together to revolutionize mental health care, foster a culture of compassion, and create a future where everyone has access to holistic, effective solutions for their mental well-being.

I look forward to seeing you at the conference and let us work together toward a healthier, happier Malaysia.

Best Regards,
Dr. Siva Poobalasingam MD, Dip IBLM
Founder and President, Malaysian Society of Lifestyle Medicine
Lifestyle Medicine Expert Consultant, WHO (WHO-MOH Lifestyle Medicine
For Remission Of Diabetes Programme)
Chair, Advisory Board, International Board Of Lifestyle Medicine/Lifestyle Medicine
Global Alliance
Advisory Board, International Journal Of Disease Reversal And Prevention

Keynote Speakers

Dr Elizabeth M Frates    

MD, FACLM, DipABLM

President ,
American College Of Lifestyle Medicine

Dr Ravinder  Mamtani

MD, MSc, FACPM, FACOEM, ABoIM, FACLM

Professor of Population Health Sciences
Professor of Medicine (Center for Global Health)
Vice Dean for Population Health and Lifestyle Medicine
Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar
Doha, Qatar

Our  Speakers

Dr. Wayne Dysinger

MD,MPH,FACLM

Chair,
Lifestyle Medicine Global Alliance

Dr.Sivaneswaran Poobalasingam 

MD, Dip IBLM

Founder And President,
Malaysian Society of Lifestyle Medicine

Dr.Amy Mechely

Chair American and International
Boards Of Lifestyle Medicine

Dr.Darshan Mehta

MD, MPH

Medical Director, Benson Henry Institute For Mind Body Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School

Dr Gia Merlo

Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, NYU Grossman School of Medicine

Dr.Uma Naidoo

Director Of Nutritional & Lifestyle Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital.

Harvard Medical School

Dr.Marcela Sandoval Garza

MD, MPH

Medical Advisory Board,T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies

Dr.Edward M. Phillips

MD

Director, Institute of Lifestyle Medicine, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Harvard Medical School

Dr.Liana Lianov

MD, MPH, FACLM, FACPM, DipABLM

President ,
Global Positive Health Institute

Mr. Simon Matthews

Adjunct Lecturer, Lifestyle Medicine And Health Research Centre,Avondale University

Dr. Mechelle Palma

President, Philippine College of Lifestyle Medicine

Ms Nisha Lakshmanan

Director, Mind Body Medicine, Amrita Integrative And Lifestyle Medicine Centre

Dr.Siobhan McCormack 

MBBS , DRCOG , DFSRH ,
DCH , MRCGP , Dip IBLM.

Lifestyle Medicine Physician

Dr. Faridah Mohd Zin

Dip IBLM

Consultant Family Medicine and Lifestyle Medicine Physician, MSU Medical Centre

Mr.Stephan Herzog

Executive Director, American & Internationals Boards of Lifestyle Medicine

Coming Soon! 

Dr. Dysinger is a lifestyle, preventive and family medicine physician who currently serves as physician, chair and founder of Lifestyle Medical, a new model group of primary care clinics built around Lifestyle Medicine principles.  He is also the co-founder of the Lifestyle Medicine Network, a collaboration of primary care practices throughout the United States that all have a Lifestyle Medicine foundation.  Additionally, he is the Chair of both the American Board of Lifestyle Medicine and the International Board of Lifestyle Medicine.  He is an active faculty at Loma Linda University and consults, teaches and participates in research on Lifestyle Medicine issues around the world. 

Dr. Dysinger is a past President of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine and past Medical Director for the Complete Health Improvement Program.  He has previously worked in various capacities with the American Medical Association, the American College of Preventive Medicine and the Association for Prevention Teaching and Research.  Prior to his current position, Dr. Dysinger was Chair, Department of Preventive Medicine, Loma Linda University, and faculty/co-founder of both the Family and the Preventive Medicine residencies at Dartmouth.  He has also worked in faculty, patient care and service capacities in Atlanta and Guam. 

Dr. Dysinger earned his M.D. degree from Loma Linda University School of Medicine (1986), and his MPH from Loma Linda University School of Public Health (1990).  He is a Fellow of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine, the American College of Preventive Medicine, and the American Academy of Family Physicians. 

Dr. Sivaneswaran Poobalasingam was appointed as the Lifestyle Medicine Expert Consultant with the World Health Organisation for the Lifestyle Medicine For Diabetes Remission Project(WHO-MOH). Dr. Siva is the Founder and President of the Malaysian Society of Lifestyle Medicine which is affiliated to the Lifestyle Medicine Global Alliance. He is on the Advisory Board of the International Journal for Disease Reversal and Prevention. He also sits on the US based True Health Initiative Council and Global Positive Health Institute’s Advisory Council and the National Coalition for Mental Wellness in Malaysia He is one of two Asian
Physicians to be appointed as Exam Question Writers for the Lifestyle Medicine Board  Certification examination. Dr Siva is the Country Representative for the International Council of Integrative Medicine and the Lifestyle Medicine Global Alliance.

Dr. Siva is CEO of Amrita Integrative and Lifestyle Medicine Center and Amrit Lifestyle Medicine Academy, a wellness academy. He is a Board Certified Lifestyle Medicine Physician. He is frequently invited to speak on Lifestyle Medicine by government institutions. He has also conducted workshops on Lifestyle Medicine for programs jointly organized by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Malaysian Ministry of Health and University Era Ketiga (University Putra Malaysia). He is a published author and has written books on a mind body approach to wellness and on the importance of herbs and nutrition in healthy ageing.

Dr. Amy Mechley, MD, FAAFP, FACLM, DipABLM, DipABFM, earned her medical doctorate at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and completed her residency in family medicine at The University of Utah. She is a practicing Lifestyle Medicine, Direct Primary Care, Family Medicine physician, entrepreneur, clinical consultant, and educator. She serves as the Chair of Board of Directors for the American Board of Lifestyle Medicine and International Board of Lifestyle Medicine. She is an active speaker for many organizations including the American Academy of Family Physicians and The American College of Lifestyle Medicine.

Her career as a physician is grounded in servant-led principles.  Dr. Mechley takes innovative approaches to some of the most challenging concerns in healthcare today.  She is dual board certified in Lifestyle and Family Medicine and has achieved the status of Lifestyle Medicine Intensivist. Dr. Mechley is actively involved in teaching medical students and family medicine residents. It is her interest in aligning her focus of Lifestyle Medicine principles within the practice of primary care that has led her to open IFC Direct Primary Care in Cincinnati, Ohio. 

Darshan Mehta, MD, MPH is Assistant Professor in Medicine and Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. He is the Director of Education for the Osher Center at Brigham & Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Medical Director of the Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine at MGH, Director for the Office for Well-Being with the Center for Faculty Development at MGH, and an internal medicine consultant to the Home Base Program at MGH. In addition, he is the MGH site director for the Practice of Medicine curriculum required of all 1st-year Harvard Medical School students and leads their well-being curriculum. His educational and research interests include curricular development in complementary and integrative medical therapies, mind/body educational interventions in health professions training, and promotion of professionalism in medical trainees.

Edward M. Phillips, MD, is Associate Professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Harvard Medical School and is Founder and Director of the Institute of Lifestyle Medicine (ILM) at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital.  In his work at the ILM since 2006 he has directed 26 live CME programs attended by over 25,000 clinicians from 115 countries.

In 2015 Phillips joined the VA Boston Healthcare System and now serves as Whole Health Medical Director. He is integrating Whole Health-lifestyle medicine training for students and trainees across the VA as National Whole Health Education Champion for Health Professions Trainees. Additionally, Phillips is a Fellow of American College of Sports Medicine (FACSM) and serves on the executive council that developed the Exercise is Medicine global initiative. He has >80 scientific publications. He serves on the Advisory Board of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine, the Health Sector and Military Settings Sectors of the United States National Physical Activity Plan and is a founding director of the American Board of Lifestyle Medicine.

Phillips is an active clinician, educator and advocate who speaks and consults nationally guiding a broad-based effort to reduce lifestyle-related death, disease, and costs through clinician directed interventions with patients. His medical school, SUNY Buffalo, honored him with its Distinguished Alumni Award for his accomplishments in Lifestyle Medicine. The President’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition has recognized Dr. Phillips, the ILM and the Lifestyle Medicine Education Collaborative with its Community Leadership Award. He appears on national media including Good Morning America, ESPN radio, Huffington Post, Slate, and Time Magazine. He co-hosted the NPR Daily Exercise Podcast, WBUR’s Magic Pill which was awarded an Edward R. Murrow award for Excellence in Innovation and has 2 million downloads of the sequel podcast “Food, We Need to Talk.” He is co-authoring his third book, “Food, We Need to Talk: The science-based, humor-laced, last word on eating, diet, and making peace with your body” from St. Martin’s Press, Summer, 2023.

As an innovative global leader in lifestyle medicine, Liana Lianov, MD, MPH, FACLM, FACPM, DipABLM has advanced the movement for integrating positive psychology into health care. She led the development of the original lifestyle medicine core competencies for physicians and health professionals, which have recently been expanded to include positive psychology-based knowledge and skills. She serves as the President of the Global Positive Health Institute, chair of the Happiness Science and Positive Health Committee of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM), lead faculty for the ACLM Physician and Health Professional Wellbeing Program, and vice-chair of the American Board of Lifestyle Medicine.

Dr. Lianov is the immediate past president of the Positive Health and Wellbeing Division of the International Positive Psychology Association, A few of her notable past roles include president of the ACLM, director for the Healthy Lifestyles Division of the American Medical Association and board regent for the American College of Preventive Medicine. She also directed programs in heart disease, stroke and cancer prevention at the California Department of Health Services.

In 2018, Dr. Lianov convened the inaugural Summit on Happiness Science in Health Care cosponsored by the ACLM and Dell Medical School, which led to scholarly publications and a groundbreaking book on how to integrate happiness science into medical practice, Roots of Positive Change, Optimizing Health Care with Positive Psychology. To further this mission, she founded the Global Positive Health Institute (https://www.positivehealth.world) which provides positive psychology education and practical tools for health professionals to use in their clinical practices and support their personal well-being. You can follow her work with the GPHI on FB and Instagram @globalpositivehealth. Her latest book, Strengths in the Mirror, Thriving Now and Tomorrow (to be published August 30, 2021) shares inspirational stories from colleagues and sums up how we all can flourish through healthy lifestyles, positive activities and personal strengths.

Dr Siobhan McCormack ( aka Dr Shiv ) has been an NHS  GP partner for over 30 years, gaining a huge range and depth of  experience in Primary Care  as well as developing special interests in Women’s Health and Mental Wellbeing.

After qualifying  from Charing Cross & Westminster Medical School, London in 1989, she trained in General Medicine, General Surgery,  A&E, Paediatrics, Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Gastroenterology, and  Psychiatry, collecting qualifications in several specialities en route, including MRCGP.

Over her three decades of working in Primary Care , she has watched the tsunami of chronic disease derailing the healthcare landscape. This motivated her search for a ‘better way’ , leading her to Lifestyle Medicine and the BSLM.

She is passionate about Lifestyle Medicine which she sees as the foundation to all aspects of healthcare. She completed the Winchester Plant-Based Nutrition course in 2019 and the BSLM Diploma in Lifestyle Medicine in 2020 and is currently studying an MSc Nutritional Medicine at the University of Surrey.

Her obsession  for all things microbiome began in 2018 when she read The Psychobiotic Revolution ( authors: Anderson ,Cryan ,Dinan) and discovered she had a rainforest in her colon. Since then, she has been deep-diving into the evidence on human microbiomes and health  and, in the process, has co-authored a course on the subject, The Gut Microbiome for Clinicians with fellow microbiome enthusiast , Dr Sheena Fraser. Together they host Microbiome Medics Podcast .

Dr Shiv sits on the UK Gut Microbiota for Health Expert Panel , a multi-disciplinary group with  expertise and interest in the gut microbiota and its role in health and disease. 

Dr Shiv  is regularly invited to speak to  clinicians , medical students and patient groups on various aspects of the gut microbiome and Lifestyle Medicine and has presented at the BSLM conference.

She enjoys yoga, walking ,running and mindfulness meditation. She is a member of Breathworks, PBHP and BSLM.

Dr Faridah binti Mohd Zin is a Family Medicine Specialist and an IBLM certified Lifestyle Medicine Physician. She obtained her medical degree from National University of Ireland in Galway, Ireland. Subsequently received her master’s degree in Family Medicine from Universiti Sains Malaysia and later in 2019, she was honored with Doctor of Philosophy in Social Studies by Universiti Utara Malaysia. She is a certified smoking cessation practitioner and participated in the 2018 Fellowship Program in Tobacco Control in Hong Kong, SAR, China. She has an overwhelming interest in prevention and treatment of lifestyle related diseases, as well as community health education. She has delivered countless lectures for the community and professionals in the past 10 years especially on lifestyles, disease prevention and noncommunicable diseases. She believes in the importance of self-empowerment as an essential element in patient care. She is currently practicing her passion and expertise at the Health Screening and Wellness Clinic, MSU Medical Centre.

Stephan is a business professional who was born and raised in Switzerland and spent most of his professional career working for large multi-nationals in Australia, Europe and the US. He has worked for GE in Switzerland and Australia for 10 years, ran Australia’s largest chain of fitness centers as CEO for 6, served on the board of a large health food manufacturer and has been running his own consulting business since 2011. In his spare time, he mentors MBA graduates from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) and supports an orphanage in Myanmar. Most recently he orchestrated the revamping and commercialization of the preeminent intensive therapeutic lifestyle change program (CHIP) globally. Currently he serves as the Executive Director of the American and International Boards of Lifestyle Medicine, helping to bring standardized lifestyle medicine education and certification to all corners of the globe. Stephan is passionate about being a walking talking example of optimal health and motivating others to be the best they can be.