The American Botanical Council (ABC) hosted its Annual Celebration and Awards Ceremony in Anaheim, CA, and honored individuals and companies who influence the present and future of the herbal medicine movement.
Mark Blumenthal (above), founder and executive director of ABC, introduced the awards ceremony.
All photos courtesy of the American Botanical Council.
The American Botanical Council (ABC) hosted its Annual Celebration and Awards Ceremony in Anaheim, CA, and honored individuals and companies who influence the present and future of the herbal medicine movement.
All photos courtesy of the American Botanical Council.
Jim Emme, CEO of NOW Health Group, received the ABC Champion Award for 2018, in recognition of his generous support of ABC and other nonprofit organizations in the natural products community over the years.
“Jim Emme is a particularly giving and supportive person,” said ABC’s Blumenthal. “He is quick to see the potential and value of an ABC initiative and/or plan. In fact, because of Jim, NOW Health Group was the first company to underwrite ABC’s newest initiative, our Sustainable Herbs Program partnership, which we announced last November.
“Over the years, Jim has answered many a call to support ABC’s efforts. He is a true ‘champion’ of our nonprofit educational mission and efforts.”
The ABC Champion Award was created to recognize individuals who have been outstanding supporters of ABC and have helped the organization promote and achieve its nonprofit research and educational mission. The generosity of ABC’s friends and members is vital to the nonprofit’s continued success and growth.
Emme thanked ABC for the award, stating: “NOW is proud to support the American Botanical Council, and honored by this recognition. My first introduction to botanicals education was when my sister Dorie gave me her copy of an issue of HerbalGram in the early 1980’s. As a food scientist, I was impressed with the details. How would I have known that my bootleg copy of HerbalGram would be the gateway to my interest in natural products?
Linnea and Larry Wardwell received the 2018 ABC Mark Blumenthal Herbal Community Builder Award in recognition of their work organizing and promoting herb conferences for over 25 years.
The ABC Mark Blumenthal Herbal Community Builder Award is given to individuals who have played a significant role in creating a sense of community among herbalists, botanical researchers, members of the herb and natural products communities and industries, and others who work in the area of medicinal and aromatic plants.
Through their company, Herbal Education Services, the Wardwells organized and promoted the annual Medicines from the Earth conferences in Black Mountain, North Carolina, and the annual Southwest Conference on Botanical Medicine at the Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine in Tempe, Arizona.
“Linnea and Larry Wardwell have given so much of their heart and soul to these conferences to ensure that there are the highest quality presenters for the best learning experience for the attendees,” said Ric Scalzo, founder of Gaia Herbs, the primary sponsor of the Medicines from the Earth conference since its inception.
“They have acted lovingly and consciously out of a deep sense of stewardship – for the earth, for the plants, and for conference attendees who have become part of the herbal community.”
The 2018 ABC James A. Duke Excellence in Botanical Literature Award went to Ethnopharmacologic Search for Psychoactive Drugs: 50 Years of Research, Volumes I and II (ESPD50).
The text, edited by Dennis J. McKenna, PhD, and published by Synergetic Press, compiles the proceedings from the first ESPD symposium in 1967 and the 50th anniversary symposium in 2017 and contains papers from some of the most well-known and well-regarded experts in the field.
Dr McKenna, who commented: “Many discoveries were made in the five decades between the 1967 symposium and the 2017 symposium. The topics covered were timely then, and are even more timely now, as the habitats and cultures that are the holders of the knowledge are disappearing rapidly…. Science has always looked to nature for psychoactive remedies that may be used to alleviate human suffering. It is my hope that these symposium volumes will inspire a new generation of young investigators to continue this quest.”
A video of Dr. McKenna’s acceptance of the award in absentia is available here.
Alice Mead, VP of US Public Policy & Public Affairs, accepted the Varro E. Tyler Commercial Investment in Phytomedicinal Research Award for GW Pharmaceuticals from Dr Stefan Gafner, ABC's Chief Science Officer.
The ABC Tyler Award was created to honor one of the most respected scientists in late-20th century herbal medicine and pharmacognosy (the study of medicines of natural origin). Professor Tyler was an early trustee of ABC, dean of the Purdue University College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences for 20 years, and vice president of academic affairs at Purdue. Tyler encouraged scientific and product integrity, and envisioned a rational phytomedicinal health care sector that valued the proper evaluation of products’ quality, safety, and efficacy.
ABC Board of Trustees member, Peggy Brevoort announced that the Fredi Kronenberg Award for Excellence in Botanicals for Women’s Health to Aviva Romm, MD.
The Fredi Kronenberg Award, which was first awarded in 2018 to Tieraona Low Dog, MD, is named in honor of distinguished researcher, educator, and longtime ABC Board of Trustees member Fredi Kronenberg, PhD, who passed away in April 2017. Kronenberg dedicated her professional life to the study of medicinal plants and phytomedicines for women’s health conditions, and was particularly interested in phytoestrogen-containing botanicals, such as black cohosh (Actaea racemosa), for the treatment of menopause symptoms.
Kronenberg was a champion of integrative medicine and co-founded a complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) center at Columbia University: the first CAM program at an Ivy League school. For 10 years, she also co-directed an onsite five-day continuing education course for physicians and other health care providers interested in botanical medicine.
The event was held on March 6, 2019 in Anaheim, California. The event, for ABC Sponsor Members, occurred during Natural Products Expo West.
