The American Botanical Council’s (ABC) Advisory Board has recently grown by 11 new members. Joining the 70 existing members, the new members will aid ABC in a variety of tasks, including serving as expert sources and peer reviewers for HerbalGram, HerbalEGram, and HerbClip articles. Included on the list are cancer researchers, natural product developers, medical and naturopathic physicians, editors, and a medicinal plant conservationist, among others.


Bharat (Bart) B. Aggarwal, PhD, is a leading cancer researcher with significant experience studying the role of curcuminoids from the popular spice turmeric (Curcuma longa) in multiple types of cancer. Since 1989, he has been a biochemistry professor of cancer medicine and chief of the Cytokine Research Section at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, where he is currently the Ransom Horne, Jr. Distinguished Professor of Cancer Research. Dr. Aggarwal serves as an editorial board member of numerous scientific journals and has published more than 500 research and review articles in peer reviewed publications. He has received numerous awards throughout his career and

Lise Alschuler, ND, is an expert in naturopathic oncology, integrated healthcare, and botanical medicine with 15 years of clinical practice experience. Dr. Alschuler has also served as director, chair, and professor of a variety of medical centers, natural health organizations, and educational institutions. She has researched the effect of complementary and alternative medicine and integrated care on patients with pancreatic, prostate, and other cancers, and has written 2 editions of an integrative cancer care guide book, as well as other book chapters and journal and news articles. Dr. Alschuler was named one of Seattle’s best doctors in Seattle magazine in 2000.

Paula N. Brown serves as the director of applied research in biosciences at the British Columbia Institute of Technology, where she established a multi-disciplinary research facility that supports the natural health and food products industry. Brown currently writes the “Quality Focus” column for the trade publication Nutraceuticals World. She is also a member of Health Canada’s Natural Health Products Directorate Program Advisory Committee and serves on grant review committees for the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM). She has directed 2 full collaborative studies on ginseng (Panax spp.) and goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis), and she co-founded the Natural Health Products Research Society of Canada in 2003 with other research colleagues.

Veronika Butterweck, PhD, is currently an associate professor at the University of Florida’s College of Pharmacy and holds the Debbie and Sylvia DeSantis Term Professorship of Natural Products. Her research focuses on the interaction between herbal medicines and conventional drugs, as well as the development of new therapeutic strategies based on herbal medicines, particularly those that treat anxiety, depression, and diabetes. She has written and co-written 4 books and numerous scientific articles, is an editor for the respected medicinal plant research journal Planta Medica, and is a member of the Expert Committee on Dietary Supplements/Botanicals of the US Pharmacopeia (USP).

Amanda McQuade Crawford, a consultant medical herbalist, is internationally recognized as an educator in herbal medicine and integrative health. Crawford currently serves as an adjunct professor at the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy, where she lectures within its Masters program of Applied Natural Products, and is also a distinguished lecturer at Tai Sophia Institute. She helped found the American Herbalists Guild, has written 3 books on natural and herbal health for women, and has contributed to several other botanical-related books. Crawford also writes about traditional indications for the American Herbal Pharmacopoeia’s botanical monographs, and she has recently hosted the TV series What A Relief for the holistic-focused cable channel Veria.com.

Daniel Fabricant, PhD, is the vice president and chief officer of scientific and regulatory affairs for the Natural Products Association (NPA), an industry trade group. At NPA, Dr. Fabricant works with staff to develop and implement policies and appropriate responses to government initiatives that directly affect the natural products community, and he is also responsible for developing strategy, senior leadership, management, and financial oversight of the organization’s scientific and regulatory programs. Studying under the renowned professors Norman R. Farnsworth, PhD, and Harry H.S. Fong, PhD, Dr. Fabricant received his pharmacognosy doctorate degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago, where he is currently an adjunct professor. He also serves on various editorial boards and National Institutes of Health study sections and has published numerous articles in scientific journals.

Danna J. Leaman, PhD, is a conservation biologist who specializes in medicinal plants. She is currently a research associate with the Canadian Museum of Nature and chair of the executive board of the FairWild Foundation, which promotes the sustainable wild collection of medicinal plants and other sources of natural product ingredients. Dr. Leaman works extensively with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), of which she is a member of its Species Survival Commission, as well as the commission’s steering committee. She also serves as chair of IUCN’s Medicinal Plant Specialist Group and deputy chair of the Plant Conservation Sub-Committee.

Robert Rountree, MD, is currently a practitioner of family medicine, nutrition, medical herbology, and mind-body therapy in Boulder, Colorado. Specializing in integrative and nutritional medicine, Dr. Rountree has co-written 7 books, including Clinical Botanical Medicine, 2nd Edition (Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., 2009), and authored articles appearing in numerous popular health magazines. He is the medical editor for Delicious! Living and a technical editor for Alternative and Complementary Therapies and the Journal of the American Nutraceutical Association. He is also the medical director for Xymogen Professional Products.

Michael S. Tempesta, PhD, long-time natural products chemist and co-founder of Shaman Pharmaceuticals, has more than 30 years of research and development experience with marine and plant-derived natural products. Dr. Tempesta has published more than 100 papers and book chapters, founded and currently works with 3 natural product companies, and is treasurer of the International Organization for Chemistry in Development. He has led research efforts in the study of medicinal plants from African and South American rainforests and, following knowledge of the Amazon indigenous people, he and one of his graduate students isolated and extracted crofelemer, an antidiarrhea compound from the sap of the Sangre de Drago (Blood of the Dragon, Croton lechleri) tree. Dr. Tempesta currently focuses on the discovery and development of natural products useful in pharmaceutical, cosmetic, dietary supplement, and herbal areas.

Eric L. Yarnell, ND, is chief medical officer at Northwest Naturopathic Urology, a staff physician at Bastyr Integrative Oncology Research Center, and supervising physician at the Bastyr Center for Natural Health. He also co-founded the Botanical Medicine Academy, a specialty board for practitioners who use herbs. Dr. Yarnell has published over 100 articles, as well as authored or co-authored several books, the most recent of which is Clinical Botanical Medicine, 2nd Edition (Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., 2009).  He is also an assistant professor in the botanical medicine department at Bastyr University. He is a co-founder and chief financial officer of Healing Mountain Publishing, Inc., a publisher of natural medicine textbooks, and vice president of Heron Botanicals, Inc., which provides whole plant extracts to healthcare providers. 

Former ABC Board of Trustees member John Weeks, who edits and publishes The Integrator Blog News & Report, also joins the Advisory Board.


About the American Botanical Council

Founded in 1988, the American Botanical Council is a leading international nonprofit organization addressing research and educational issues regarding herbs and medicinal plants. ABC’s members include academic researchers and educators; libraries; health professionals and medical institutions; government agencies; members of the herb, dietary supplement, cosmetic, and pharmaceutical industries; journalists; consumers; and others within over 70 countries. The organization occupies a historic 2.5-acre site in Austin, Texas where it publishes the quarterly journal HerbalGram, the monthly e-publication HerbalEGram, HerbClips (summaries of scientific and clinical publications), reference books, and other educational materials. ABC also hosts HerbMedPro, a powerful herbal database, covering scientific and clinical publications on more than 220 herbs. ABC also co-produces the “Herbal Insights” segment for Healing Quest, a television series on PBS.

ABC is tax-exempt under section 501(c) (3) of the IRS Code. Information: Contact ABC at P.O. Box 144345, Austin, TX 78714-4345, Phone: 512-926-4900. Website: http://www.herbalgram.org/.