ABC The American Botanical Council, a non-profit herb and medicinal plant group, has added 14 new members to its advisory board. The council said the new members - experts in the field - will assist in the content and editorial development of various ABC publications, such as HerbalGram, HerbalEGram and HerbClip. The 14 new members include 5 herbalists - each with over 20 to 30 years of experience in the American herbal landscape, 4 physicians with experience in botanical medicine, and 5 people with doctorates in areas of ethnobotany, pharmacognosy, pharmacology, natural products research, and nutrition. ABC founder and executive director Mark Blumenthal commented: "In many ways, the appointment of these herb experts to the ABC Advisory Board reflects an already strong cooperative relationship that has existed for many years. "The naming of many of these respected individuals and leaders is a public recognition of their long-term support for and contributions to ABC's nonprofit educational mission." The new members are:
- Stacey Bell, nutritionist and research scientist for IdeaSphere
- Keith Block, medical and scientific director of the Block Center for Integrative Cancer Treatment
- Ray Cooper, chief science officer of PhytoScience Inc
- Paula Gardiner, assistant professor in the Department of Family Medicine at Boston University Medical School
- Bill Gurley, director of the Clinical Pharmacokinetics Research Laboratory and a professor of pharmaceutical sciences at UAMS
- Freddie Ann Hoffman, president and CEO of HeteroGeneity
- Uwe Koetter, principal and founder of Dr Koetter Consulting Services in Switzerland
- Will McClatchey, professor of botany at the University of Hawaii at Mânoa
- Simon Mills, director of Plant Medicine Community Interest Company
- Paul Schulick, founder and co-CEO of New Chapter
- Ed Smith, co-founder, co-owner, and chairman of Herb Pharm
- Jay Udani, CEO and medical director of Medicus Research
- Roy Upton, founder, editor, and executive director of the American Herbal Pharmacopoeia;
- David Winston, president of Herbalist & Alchemist
CRN Dietary supplement trade association Council for Responsible Nutrition has added five new members to its membership roster. These are: Voting members:
- GlaxoSmithKline of Parsippany, N.J.
- LycoRed of Orange, N.J.
- Novartis Consumer Health of Parsippany, N.J.
Associate members:
- New Hope Natural Media of Boulder, Colo.
- Quality Systems Design of North Wales, Pa.
Steve Mister, CRN president and CEO commented: "We have an ambitious agenda at CRN to enhance the climate for dietary supplement manufacturers and suppliers in a number of specific and measureable ways. We think the more industry members know about CRN, the more they will want to participate in that agenda. We are pleased to welcome these five companies." DSEA The non-profit industry coalition Dietary Supplement Education Alliance this week announced the election of a new president, vice president and secretary/treasurer for 2008.
- President: Elliott Balbert, founder and former president and CEO of the Natrol vitamin company. Balbert was also one of the founders of DSEA and served as its president for the first four years.
- Vice-president: Jim Flaherty, senior VP of marketing and advertising of nutritional supplement group NBTY
- Secretary/treasurer: Bard Larson, marketing and business development manager of Capsugel
DSEA, which promotes the benefits of dietary nutritional supplements, is supported by supplement manufacturers, retailers and publishers.