Three members of the ABC Advisory Board have recently
received recognition for their outstanding work in the fields of herbal
medicine, medicinal plant research, botanical analysis, conservation and
sustainability, and public and regulatory policy on herbs, phytomedicines, and
natural health products: Josef Brinckmann of Traditional Medicinals, Ikhlas
Khan, PhD, of the University of Mississippi, and Michael Smith, ND, BPharm, of
Ontario, Canada.
Josef Brinckmann Receives Honorary Doctorate
On May 22, Josef Brinckmann received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters in
Healing and Sustainability degree from the California Institute of Integral
Studies (CIIS) in San Francisco, California. His nomination came through the
American College of Traditional Chinese Medicine (ACTCM), which merged with
CIIS in 2015.
Brinckmann is the vice-president of sustainability at Traditional Medicinals,
the largest medicinal tea maker in the United States, and is the regular
co-author of HerbalGram’s Herb
Profiles.
In his commencement speech, Brinckmann told the crowd of graduates that he had
thought about what his honorary degree meant. “I decided that it meant that
awareness is indeed growing about the type of work that I’ve been driven to do,
and that the commitment to that work remains important,” he said.
“In recent decades, that work has led me to connecting of the dots; finding
where biodiversity conservation, traditional ecological knowledge, traditional
medical knowledge, poverty alleviation, and sustainable livelihoods intersect,
and then trying to do something about it,” Brinckmann added.
Drake Sadler, co-founder, chairman of the board, and chief visionary officer at
Traditional Medicinals, said he is very proud of Brinckmann. “The
scope of Josef’s contributions to the modern evolution of the herbal industry
is far-reaching, from direct engagement with impoverished indigenous herb
farming/collection communities, to highly influential collaborations with the
United Nations, the World Health Organization, US AID, TRAFFIC, and numerous
other NGOs [non-governmental organizations],” Sadler wrote (email, May 24,
2016).
Brinckmann has been collaborating with ACTCM at CIIS to help bring elements of
social, economic, and environmental sustainability into traditional Chinese
medicine harvesting, trade, and medical use. “Until recently, the Chinese government has been unwilling to recognize
any form of equitable fair trading standard in China, but due to Josef’s
relentless efforts and his skillful leveraging of relationships with NGOs like
TRAFFIC, FairWild Foundation, the World Wide Fund for Nature, and ACTCM, the
Chinese government may soon embrace a ‘fair’ certification,” Sadler wrote. “This
would be a significant development with a very positive sustainability impact on
millions of collectors and consumers.”
Ikhlas Khan Receives Research
Award from University of Mississippi
On May 14, Ikhlas Khan, PhD, was awarded the University of Mississippi’s (UM’s)
2016 Distinguished Research and Creative Achievement Award on UM’s campus in
Oxford, Mississippi.
The annual award was created in 2008, and it recognizes a UM faculty member who
has shown outstanding accomplishments
in research, scholarship, and/or creative activities. Hunt Valley,
Maryland-based Pharmaceutics International, Inc., whose CEO is a UM alumnus,
sponsors the award.
At UM, Khan is a research professor of pharmacognosy and the associate director
of the National Center for Natural Products Research (NCNPR), which is part of
Ole Miss’s Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences and is a primary
partner with the American Botanical Council (ABC) and the American Herbal
Pharmacopoeia (AHP) in the ABC-AHP-NCNPR Botanical Adulterants Program. The
NCNPR’s botanical program was designated as a US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Center of Excellence on Botanical Dietary Supplement Research in 2013.
Khan, who joined the UM faculty in 1992, was chosen to receive the award by a
panel of distinguished researchers from across the UM research community.
“I was humbled and honored to be considered for this prestigious award,” Khan
is quoted as saying in an article released by the university. “I have received
many awards before, but getting recognition at home always has special
meaning.”
In the same article, Larry Walker, PhD, NCNPR director and research professor,
is quoted as saying it is gratifying to see Khan recognized by the university.
“The laboratory pursuits in his group have greatly contributed to scientific
reference standards and methods for botanical identity, purity, and safety,”
Walker said. “Just as important, his interface with industry, regulatory
groups, scientific and trade associations, government health agencies, and
research collaborators worldwide has framed a robust dialogue and raised
awareness for higher quality and greater accountability in the marketing and
regulation of herbal and medicinal products.”
Khan is a past recipient of ABC’s Norman R. Farnsworth Excellence in Botanical
Research Award and the American Society of Pharmacognosy’s Varro E. Tyler
Prize.
Michael Smith Receives Honorary Degree
On May 26, Michael Smith, ND, BPharm, received an honorary degree from the
Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine (CCNM), from where he graduated in
1995.
According to a press release issued by CCNM, the degree recognizes Smith’s
“significant contributions to the advancement of naturopathic medicine and
natural health product regulation in Canada and around the world.”
“I am honored to be selected as this year’s honorary degree recipient by the
College,” Smith is quoted as saying in the release. “Since graduating from
CCNM, I have been fortunate to have the opportunity to work in a number of
exciting areas related to natural health products, both in Canada and internationally.
I feel very privileged to be recognized for my work and contributions.”
From 2001 until 2009, Smith held a number of senior positions at Health
Canada’s Natural Products Directorate, the federal government department
responsible for regulating natural health products in Canada. During that time,
Smith led the development and implementation of the Natural Health Product
Research Program, a national government research funding initiative.
In 2009, he was appointed to head of the Office of Complementary
Medicines at the Therapeutic Goods Administration of the Department of Health
and Aging in Australia, where he was responsible for the national pre-marketing
regulatory framework for complementary medicines.
Also in 2009, Smith was appointed to the World Health Organizations
(WHO’s) 12-member Expert Advisory Panel on Traditional and Complementary
Medicine. He is one of the primary technical drafters of the WHO’s Traditional Medicine Strategy 2014-2023.
Smith now consults with many organizations in the private,
public, and non-profit sectors on issues related to natural health products and
traditional medicines, and this includes the ABC-AHP-NCNPR Botanical
Adulterants Program.
“Dr.
Smith’s commitment to the advancement of naturopathic medicine and his
accomplishments over the past 20 years set excellent examples for all of our
graduates to follow,” Bob Bernhardt, PhD, president and CEO of CCNM, is quoted
as saying.
—Connor
Yearsley
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