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American Botanical Council Names New Advisory Board Members from International ArenaAppointment of
medicinal plant experts from 10 countries reflects the nonprofit’s ever-growing
international scope (AUSTIN, Texas, Feb. 5, 2014) The American
Botanical Council (ABC) welcomes 10 new expert members to its Advisory Board.
The addition of these distinguished individuals — who represent 10 countries
from 5 continents — highlights the increasingly international and diverse
nature of the ABC Advisory Board. They join 119 existing members, including 22 international experts. The new members will bring their perspectives
and experiences from numerous scientific fields related to the study of
medicinal plants, including ethnobotany, pharmacognosy, phytotherapy, pharmacy,
organic chemistry and biochemistry, pharmacovigilance, and more.
ABC Advisory Board members generously volunteer their time to peer review
articles that appear in HerbalGram, HerbalEGram, HerbClips, and
various other peer-reviewed ABC publications. Additionally, ABC management and HerbalGram
editors seek feedback and advice from Advisory Board members on research
questions, article ideas, ABC policies, and book reviews, among many other
topics.
“We are deeply grateful and honored to have these distinguished colleagues from
10 countries join with us to help propel ABC’s unique nonprofit
educational mission,” said Mark Blumenthal, founder and executive director of
ABC. “Their relationships with our organization reflect the increasingly
international scope and impact of ABC's mission, publications, and programs.”
He also noted that in most instances, the appointment of these individuals to
the ABC Advisory Board simply formalizes a long-term professional and personal
relationship that Blumenthal has had with the new member.
Featured below are brief biographical sketches for each of the new ABC Advisory
Board members.
Giovanni Appendino, Laurea, has been a professor of organic chemistry
since 2000 in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of
Eastern Piedmont in Novara, Italy. He completed his Laurea degree in 1979 at
the University of Torino, where he also served as a university lecturer and
associate professor. In 2009, Dr. Appendino was appointed editor in chief of Filoterapia
(“Phytotherapy”), a prominent medicinal plant research journal co-published
by Elsevier and the Italian phytomedicinal research and manufacturing company
Indena. In addition to serving on the advisory boards of the European
Journal of Organic Chemistry, The Open Natural Products Journal, and
Natural Products Communication, he has authored more than 300
peer-reviewed articles and has determined the structures of hundreds of novel
plant-based chemicals from various European medicinal plants, including the yew
tree (Taxus spp., Taxaceae), hemp (Cannabis sativa,
Cannabaceae), St. John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum, Clusiaceae), tansy
(Tanacetum vulgare, Asteraceae), wormwood (Artemisia absinthium,
Asteraceae), giant fennel (Ferula foetida, Apiaceae), and various
spurges (Euphorbia spp., Euphorbiaceae). For his commitment to the
study of plant bioactives, Dr. Appendino was awarded the 1991 Rhone-Poulenc
Rorer Medal of the Phytochemical Society of Europe and the 2009 Quilico Medal
from the Italian Chemical Society.
Joanne Barnes, PhD, has been an associate professor in herbal medicines
at the University of Auckland since 2005. In 2001, she received her PhD from
the University of London’s School of Pharmacy; in 1999, she earned her
postgraduate certificate in pharmacovigilance and pharmacoepidemiology from the
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. From 1999 until 2002, Dr.
Barnes served as a teaching and research fellow at the University of London,
after which — from 2002 to 2005 — she was a lecturer in phytopharmacy at the university.
She is a fellow of the Linnean Society of London, has achieved pharmacist’s
registration in both New Zealand and Great Britain, and was a member of the
United States Pharmacopeia’s Dietary Supplements Information Expert Committee
as well as Australia’s National Prescribing Service Limited’s Complementary
Medicine Expert Research Advisory Group. She was principal co-author of two
editions of Herbal Medicines, a leading textbook on medicinal plants
(Pharmaceutical Press, 2002 and 2007) and a co-author of two editions of Fundamentals
of Pharmacognosy and Phytotherapy (Churchill Livingstone, 2004 and
2012). Currently, Dr. Barnes is an Associate Editor of Phytochemistry
Letters (Elsevier) and is an editorial board member of numerous
journals of medicinal plant research.
Il-Moo Chang, PhD, is the president of The Korean Ginseng Research
Institute. He is also professor emeritus at the College of Pharmacy at Seoul
National University and, since 2007, he has served on the World Health
Organization’s Expert Advisory Panel on Traditional Medicine. He received his
PhD in biophysical sciences in 1972 from the University of Houston, where he
also completed his post-doctoral research in bioinorganic chemistry. His varied
academic interests include the study of bioactive compounds for treating
hepatitis B, discovering antidotes for the toxic amanita mushroom (Amanita
phalloides, Amanitaceae), and constructing a comprehensive database of
traditional oriental medicines (TradiMed DB) in English, Japanese, and Korean. This
database has been used as a reference by the World Intellectual Property
Organization. Dr. Chang is an editorial review member of Evidence-Based
Complementary and Alternative Medicine, the Chinese Journal of
Integrative Medicine, and Chinese Medicine. He has published more
than 110 scientific papers and has received the Grand Award and Excellent
Research Achievement Award from the Korean Society of Pharmacognosy.
Muriel Cuendet, PhD, is an associate professor at the University of
Geneva’s School of Pharmaceutical Sciences. After receiving her PhD in
phytochemistry in 1999 at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland, she served
as a research assistant professor and completed her postdoctoral research in
the department of medicinal chemistry and pharmacognosy at the College of
Pharmacy at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Dr. Cuendet’s research
involves the study of natural and semi-synthetic compounds, particularly those
with anti-cancer properties. In addition to her professional memberships in the
Society for Medicinal Plant and Natural Products Research, the American
Association for Cancer Research, and the Association for Women in Science, Dr.
Cuendet currently serves as the associate editor of Pharmaceutical Biology
and as an editorial board member of Natural Products Against Cancer.
Alexander Panossian, PhD, has been head of research and development at
the Swedish Herbal Institute since 2003, where his research interests and
publications focus on plants with adaptogenic activity, particularly pharmacological
and clinical research on Rhodiola rosea (Crassulaceae). He also has
conducted extensive research on Andrographis paniculata (Acanthaceae)
and Bryonia alba (Cucurbitaceae). He has been a lecturer in the
department of biology at Sweden’s Lund University, a professor of Armenia’s
National Institute of Health, and the director of the Armenian Drug Agency’s
Expert Analytical Laboratory. He received his PhD from the Moscow Institute of
Bioorganic Chemistry of the USSR Academy of Sciences in 1975 and a doctorate of
science in chemistry from the Moscow Institute of Fine Chemical Technology in
1986. Among his many notable achievements and awards, more than 170 papers are
attributed to Dr. Panossian.
G.N. Qazi, PhD, has served as the vice chancellor of Hamdard
University in New Delhi, India, since 2008 and was formerly the Director of
Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine, Jammu, a National Institute of CSIR
of India. He is currently the chairman of the Government of India’s Drugs and
Pharmaceutical Research Programme, committee chairman of the Unani
Pharmacopeia, and a member of both the Pharmacopeia Commission for AYUSH
(Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, and Homeopathy) Drugs and the
Scientific Advisory Committee for the Indian Pharmacopoeia. Dr. Qazi received
his PhD in microbiology from the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda in
India and completed his post-doctoral work at the University of Dortmund in
Germany. He has authored more than 250 scientific publications and has more
than 40 years of research experience in the fields of biochemisty and
biotechnology, with a focus on natural products and Indian natural drug
validation. Dr. Qazi has served as the president of the Jammu Chapter of the
Association of Microbiologists of India, a member of the Essential Oil
Association of India, and a fellow of the Biotech Research Society of India.
Michael Smith, ND, BPharm, is a dietary supplements and natural health
products consultant based in Canada. He has a bachelor of pharmacy degree from
the University of Bath in the United Kingdom and, in 1995, graduated with
a doctorate of naturopathy from the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine,
where he later taught botanical medicine and was the associate dean of
research. In 2001, Dr. Smith joined the Natural Health Products Directorate at
Health Canada, first as senior advisor to the director general and later
as director of the Bureau of Partnerships, Outreach and International
Affairs, where he was responsible for the Natural Health Products Research
Program. Between 2009 and 2011, Dr. Smith was the head of the Office of
Complementary Medicines at the Therapeutic Goods Administration in Australia.
In addition to being a consultant, Dr. Smith is also a senior fellow at the
Samueli Institute for Integrative Medicine in Alexandria, Virginia, and a
member of the World Health Organization's Expert Advisory Panel on Traditional
Medicines.
Alvaro Viljoen, PhD, has been the national research chair in
phytomedicine in the department of pharmaceutical sciences at Tshwane
University of Technology (TUT) in Pretoria, South Africa, since July 2013,
after serving as a research professor in the department since 2005. He earned
his doctorate at Rand Afrikaans University (now the University of Johannesburg)
in 1999, where his research specialization was the chemotaxonomy of Aloe (Aloe
spp., Xanthorrhoeaceae). Dr. Viljoen earned both his bachelor's and
master's degrees at the University of Stellenbosch (now Stellenbosch
University). More recently, he was the recipient of the South African
Association of Botanists’ Silver Medal for “exceptional advancement of South
African botany” and the World Academy of Sciences Regional Office for sub-Saharan
Africa Award for “advancing the knowledge on the safe and effective use of
herbal medicines.” Dr. Viljoen is currently the associate editor of the
Journal of Ethnopharmacology and has acted as a reviewer for a number of
respected journals including Planta Medica and Phytochemistry. In
addition to his role at TUT, Dr. Viljoen is an adjunct professor of pharmacy at
King Abdulaziz University in Saudi Arabia.
Elizabeth Williamson, PhD, is a professor of pharmacy and the director
of pharmacy practice at the University of Reading in the United Kingdom. She
received her PhD in pharmacognosy in 1977 from the University of London’s (now
University College London) School of Pharmacy, where she also served as senior
lecturer in pharmacognosy and phytotherapy. Dr. Williamson is the editor in
chief of Phytotherapy Research and an editorial board member of Phytomedicine
and the Chinese Journal of Integrative Medicine. She currently serves as
a member of the UK Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency’s British Pharmacopoeia
Commission and is a fellow of the Linnaean Society of London. Dr. Williamson is
also an author or editor of several noteworthy medicinal plant-related books,
including Stockley’s Herbal Medicines Interactions, 2nd edition
(Pharmaceutical Press, 2013), Fundamentals of Pharmacognosy and Phytotherapy,
2nd edition (Churchill Livingstone, 2012), and Botanical Pharmacognosy:
Microscopic Characterization of Botanical Medicines (CRC Press, 2011;
recipient of the 2011 ABC James A. Duke Excellence in Botanical Literature
Award – Reference/Technical).
Hans Wohlmuth, PhD, is research and development manager of Integria
Healthcare in Australia and a member of the Australian Therapeutic Goods
Administration’s Advisory Committee on Complementary Medicines. Dr. Wohlmuth
has a PhD in pharmacognosy and a BSc in biology and also has trained as a
natural medicine practitioner. In 1998, he became the foundation lecturer in
pharmacognosy at Southern Cross University, where he subsequently co-founded
the Herbal Authentication Service and established the Medicinal Plant
Herbarium. Dr. Wohlmuth has been published in leading journals including Journal
of Ethnopharmacology, Journal of Natural Products, Phytotherapy Research,
and Phytomedicine, and he is an associate editor of Advances in
Integrative Medicine, Frontiers in Ethnopharmacology, and the Australian
Journal of Herbal Medicine.
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