Why work with Mhairi?

PhD (Oncology), SFHEA, Author, Speaker

Are you a cancer professional working in one of the following areas...?

Health, wellness and coaching | Occupational therapy | Nutirional therapy | Psychotherapy | Counselling | Oncology nursing | Physiotherapy | Osteopathy | Survivorship | Health coaching | Life coaching

Does any of this sound familiar?
  • Have you ever felt confused by the sheer volume of information available on the internet surrounding cancer and wondered, “Where on earth do I start?”
  • Have you ever read an article or a book on the subject and thought to yourself, “I don’t want to admit this but...I have no idea what this means?!”
  • Or perhaps you got to the end of the page and thought, “Nope! None of that actually went in!!”
  • Do you ever wish you had more time to get to know your patients better and understand their disease from a whole-person perspective?
  • Do you ever wonder how you could more effectively encourage and engage your patients in taking control of their own health?

You are not alone!

It used to be that being given a cancer diagnosis was akin to being given a death sentence, but not these days. With advances in treatment options - in both conventional and complementary therapies - survival rates are climbing.

And then there’s the impact our dietary and lifestyle choices have, not only on developing cancer in the first place, but also on developing secondary tumours. There’s so much we can do to help our patients and clients to make lasting, positive lifestyle changes to reduce their risk of relapse.

If you work with people living with and beyond cancer, then I’d love to assist you in engaging your patients and clients in making lasting, healthy lifestyle changes and improve their chances of survival.


I can help you...

I'm Dr Mhairi (“Vari”) Morris and I'm a biochemistry lecturer and cancer researcher at Loughborough University, UK. I love teaching and my "superpower" is explaining cancer clearly.

A couple of years ago, I had the pleasure and honor of working with a group of teenage and young adult cancer patients as part of a research project I was involved with to explore ways that personalized 3D printed models of a patient’s tumor could help them come to terms with their diagnosis.

This was an incredibly eye-opening experience for me! As a cancer biologist who is more familiar with a flask full of cancer cells than a room full of young people living with cancer, at that point I really had no idea what the cancer experience, from diagnosis to treatment, looked like.

It was during this time in my life that I began to explore the idea of communicating cancer clearly and I set up a blog to support my teaching practice at the time, which went down a storm with my students!

Since then, I’ve become passionate about explaining complex cancer science in easy-to-understand, accessible language – and so, Essential Cancer Education was born.

What's your BIGGEST hurdle?

As a cancer professional, time and resources are a HUGE issue. How can you work most effectively with each patient when you sometimes only have as little as 10 minutes with them during appointments?

In the “Google Age” in which we currently live, patients are often exposed to poor quality, often false, sometimes even dangerous “advice” and information online, so it’s extremely important that, as health professionals, you can educate and inform them accurately with evidence-based medicine.

We ALL know we OUGHT to get more exercise, eat a healthy balanced diet, drink in moderation and reduce our stress levels, but so often we DON’T. Cancer patients are no exception, yet these positive lifestyle changes are essential in order to live well with cancer, and most importantly, it improves their chances of survival. So how can you promote and support lasting, positive lifestyle changes?

Break through barriers and be EXCEPTIONAL

I’d love to show you a different way of doing things that will help you step into your role as the exceptional cancer professional that you know you were made to be.

Not only is it possible, it’s essential.

It’s essential for your patients’ and clients’ survival chances.

But it’s also essential for your own survival! Burnout is often only a hair’s breadth away, and if you’re burnt out, you can’t serve your patients to the best of your ability.


"Working with Vari has really helped focus me to be able to achieve that [enhanced level of trust with my patients]."

Gayle Parnham

Here's what Gayle said about working with me


How do I do it?

To provide outstanding patient care you need 3 things:

  1. Compassion for the patient
  2. Understanding of their disease, treatment and prognosis
  3. The ability to communicate effectively

If you have one or two of these elements, you can be good, possibly even great, but to really EXCEL you need all three.

That’s why I’ve devised a system that will provide you with a simple framework to build strong patient-practitioner relationships, help your patients to proactively engage in their own health, and empower them to make positive, healthy lifestyle choices that last.

I focus on three key elements:

  1. Engaging your patients with compassion and empathy
  2. Equipping your patients with the knowledge and understanding they need to traverse their treatment regimen with minimum fear - because knowledge is power
  3. Empowering your patients with tools and strategies to help them cope through effective and clear communication

What next?

If you’re serious about delivering exceptional cancer care and you’re ready to be your best professional self, then fill out this quick application form to schedule a time for us to talk through your current challenges and how I can help you


It really is that simple! It’ll take 5 minutes of your time right now, and that 5 minutes can be the difference between spinning your wheels and reliving Groundhog Day, or seeing the progress in your patients and clients that you desire and DESERVE.

I’d love to show you how I can assist you.

Complete the application and step into your best professional self today.


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