FROM engineering to immunobiology, martial arts and yoga, Bill Giles’ interests and passions over the years have led him towards a career in treating the immune system with a wide range of complementary medicines.

Bill is also the co-founder of Deeks Health Foods and says he’s been running treatments for chronic immune-related conditions and cancer at his clinic in Deakin, the Canberra Medical Ecology Centre, for 23 years.

“I was a keen surfer when I was 17 and I didn’t know what to study, so my dad said I would do engineering – I never liked it, but was good at it and have used the skills all my life for my own benefit and to help my friends,” he says.

“After engineering I enrolled to do marine biology at Townsville University – much to the dismay of my dad!”

Bill, who has a daughter and two grandsons, says he developed a love of yoga at this time, while “going through an early life crisis, I believe from studying engineering, which I didn’t really want to do!”, and has taught and practised it ever since.

Brisbane-born Bill says he soon discovered his real love was biology and transferred to the University of Queensland where he completed a BSc, an honours degree and enrolled for a PhD.

“I started health studies in 1966 and kept gathering skills in various areas, like Japanese bone setting in the early 1970s, corrective exercise in the 1960s, acupuncture from 1975 to 1977, along with my biology studies,” he says.

“Even though I wanted to study ecology and ethology, I kept finding myself in the medical research field and it snowballed from there.”

Bill says his interest in the immune system developed as he focused on assisting people with chronic health problems from the perspective of a biologist, not a naturopath or a doctor.

“I have focused on teaching people how to manage their own health without relying on drugs and surgeries, using all I know about human ecology, immunobiology and psychobiology, and my understanding of Chinese medicine and all the other qualifications I have gathered over the years,” he says.

Bill says his clinic started in 1987, at a time when he was staying in Canberra with friends, and was offered a job at the John Curtin School of Medical Research.

“I took a reasonably spontaneous opportunity and resumed my PhD-Masters at ANU, and started the clinic with a colleague in order to have a flexible income to give me freedom while I gathered data on my thesis,” he says.

“When my study was finished I continued to run the clinic alone and it evolved into what it is today.”

At the clinic Bill treats autoimmune conditions and also runs his “Healing from Cancer Support Program”, which he says builds up the immune system through lifestyle changes.

“The program isn’t an alternative to medical treatment – it supports and is complementary to it,” he says.

“As a biologist I work with the immune system, but if your doctor doesn’t support you starting on the Healing from Cancer Program, you’re not eligible for it.”

The program gives the power back to the patient so they can contribute to their healing process, Bill says.

“It’s that sense of control, that you can do something to help yourself while your doctors are doing what they need to do,” he says.

“I don’t encourage people blindly following my advice – I aim to educate people based on what I have experienced over my years in this field and we support people to undertake their own trials so they may understand their own body and how it responds. We are all unique so we don’t offer a one-size-fits-all theory.”

Bill says the four-month program costs $10,000, with a one-on-one session in person once a week and as much contact as needed in between, with audio and visual downloads, online links, auxiliary tools and medicines all provided.

“My programs are not easy and do require discipline around eating and lifestyle changes and those who are committed will see results,” Bill says.

Having conducted more than 10,000 case studies in chronic immune-related illnesses, Bill says he has treated many more tens of thousands of general clients from all over the world.

The program focuses on the importance of sleep for cell repair and works with the ego, the sense of self and emotional harmony, gut health, homeopathy, exercise and breathing, he says.

“Essentially, we want to take the immune system and completely unload it of any stresses, so we really get to know the person very well. The program is then tailored to the individual so we can build up their immune system where needed,” he says.

More information, visit webinars.billgiles.com.au