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During 2011 and early 2012,
numerous individuals and organizations of the medicinal plant and dietary
supplement communities received prestigious awards recognizing their significant
contributions to subjects from natural products research to quality herbal
monographs to ethnobotanical work with indigenous groups.
American Society of Pharmacognosy Varro Tyler Prize
and Norman Farnsworth Award
The American Society of
Pharmacognosy (ASP) awarded its Varro E. Tyler Prize to Prof. Ikhlas Khan, PhD,
and in 2012 to herbalist Roy Upton.
According to the Tyler Prize
committee chair, John H. Cardellina, PhD, selecting prizewinners is “an
interesting challenge” (e-mail communication, December 20, 2011). The goal of
the committee, Dr. Cardellina said, is to recognize in an individual “traits
that were important to Professor Tyler: high-quality science, but also
education of consumers and industry regarding quality standards, and meaningful
evidence for safety and efficacy.”
Dr. Khan, recipient of the
2011 ASP Tyler Prize, is the director of the Food and Drug Administration
Center of Excellence and assistant director of the National Center for Natural
Products Research, both at the University of Mississippi in Oxford. He is also the
co-author of Leung’s Encyclopedia of
Common Natural Ingredients: Used in Food, Drugs and Cosmetics (with Ehab A.
Abourashed; Wiley, 2009) and Science
Based Authentication of Botanicals: Phytochemical Studies of Hoodia and
Caralluma Species (with Yatin Shukla; Lambert Academic Publishing, 2011).
He is a professor of pharmacognosy and research professor at the University of
Mississippi’s Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Studies.1
“One of the most prolific
research scientists in the field, Professor Khan has, in a span of about a
decade-and-a-half, amassed a record of enormous accomplishment in basic natural
products research, development and application of analytical methods, and
studies of adulteration,” said Dr. Cardellina. “He has also organized and
hosted the International Conference of the Science of Botanicals for the past
decade.”Dr. Khan was the recipient
of ABC’s Norman R. Farnsworth Excellence in Botanical Research Award in 2009. He
earned his bachelor’s degree in chemistry and his master’s in organic chemistry
at the Aligarh Muslim University in Aligarh, India. He received his doctoral degree in pharmacy from
the Institute for Pharmaceutical Biology in Munich, West Germany, and completed his post-doctoral work in Zurich at the
Swiss Federal
Institute of Technology. In addition to
his positions on editorial boards of many leading medicinal plant
journals, Dr. Khan is a member of the ABC Advisory Board.
ABC Founder and Executive
Director Mark Blumenthal, a recipient of the Tyler Prize in 2010, said of Dr.
Khan, “Ikhlas is one of the most prolific authors in the world in the area of
medicinal plant research related to analysis of botanical materials and the
development of analytical methods for such. He inspires his numerous graduate
students and post-docs to produce an impressive number of research papers each
year. I have been to scientific conferences where there are more poster
presentations by his than from any other university.”
Roy Upton—who
will receive the 2012 Tyler Prize at ASP’s annual meeting this summer—is the founder
and executive director of the American Herbal Pharmacopeia (AHP), a co-founder and
former vice-president of the American Herbalists Guild (AHG), editor of Botanical Pharmacognosy: Microscopic Characterization of Botanical
Medicines (CRC Press, 2011), and is also trained in many branches of
alternative healing, including Ayurvedic medicine.2“It was extremely gracious
of the ASP committee to award a non-pharmacognosist the Tyler award, but it may
be fitting considering the graciousness of Professor Tyler. He was a true
gentleman,” said Upton (e-mail communication, November 22, 2011).
“While I am the recipient,”
Upton continued, “it is clear it is due to the work of the American Herbal
Pharmacopeia, which at its core, is emphasizing the need to relearn the
classical botanical pharmacognosy skills that were all but lost or
underutilized in North America.”
Blumenthal said of AHP and
Upton, “There’s nobody in the world doing better quality work on producing
high-quality monographs documenting the standards and therapeutic aspects of
herbs. People are finding applications for Roy and AHP’s work well beyond the
borders of North America, and the quality of the AHP monographs exceeds many
monographs that are officially recognized by some governments.”
“It is very heartening to
see AHP’s work acknowledged by the pharmacognosy community, especially at a
time when the skills of the pharmacognosist are needed in the botanical
medicine industry worldwide,” said Upton. “It is very much an honor to be the
recipient of this award.”
Upton’s many publications
include 31 AHP monographs analyzing medicinal plants such as echinacea (Echinacea purpurea), schisandra (Schisandra chinensis), ashwagandha (Withania somnifera), St. John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum), and a variety of
other popular herbs. He is also a member of the ABC Advisory Board.
Farnsworth Research Achievement Award
ASP awarded
its 2011 Norman R. Farnsworth Research Achievement Award to University of
Canterbury (New Zealand) Emeritus Professors of chemistry Murray Munro, PhD,
and John Blunt, PhD; and its 2012 award to Chris Ireland, PhD.3 Dr.
Blunt received his doctorate from the University of Canterbury and Dr. Munro
from the University of Otago.4 Their research once focused on red
algae (Ceratodictyon spongiosum);
however, the researchers now devote their time to “marine invertebrates and an emphasis on the detection
and isolation of compounds with pharmaceutically interesting biological
activity.”4
Dr.
Ireland is professor and dean of the College of Pharmacy at the University of
Utah. He received his PhD from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San
Diego. In addition, Dr. Ireland is an investigator at the Huntsman Cancer
Institute and serves on the National Cancer Institute
Board of Scientific Counselors for Basic Sciences.5 His
articles have been published in the Journal
of Organic Chemistry and Marine Drugs,
among many other journals.6
Society for Economic Botany Distinguished Economic
Botanist Award
The Society for Economic
Botany (SEB) presented its 2011 Distinguished Economic Botanist (DEB) award to
Professor Nancy Turner, PhD, an esteemed Canadian ethnobotanist whose research
has focused on North America’s First Peoples.
Dr. Turner is a
distinguished professor in the University of Victoria’s School of Environmental
Studies.7 In addition to her participation on ABC’s advisory board,
Dr. Turner is an acting member of the editorial board of the Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge.7
She is a member of the International Society for Ecological Restoration, the
Society of Ethnobiology, and SEB.7 She has received numerous
professional awards, fellowships, and honors, among them the Missouri Botanical
Garden’s William L. Brown Award for Excellence in Genetic Resource
Conservation.7
“Nancy Turner is an
absolutely exceptional ethnobotanist/ethnobiologist. She is one of our most
respected colleagues both in academic circles as well as among Native American
communities,” said Rainer Bussman, PhD, SEB president (e-mail communication,
December 7, 2011).“Nancy has established an
outstanding teaching and research program at University of Victoria and has
been mentor to countless students,” said Dr. Bussman, elaborating on the
Society’s DEB selection. He also noted that Dr. Turner was one of the first of
her colleagues to co-publish with her “indigenous counterparts.” “Nancy has
worked with and learned from First Nations elders and cultural specialists in
northwestern North America for nearly 40 years... to help retain and promote
their traditional knowledge of plants and habitats, including traditional
materials and medicines,” he said.
“I felt very honored to
receive this award, especially because I found myself in the company of some
amazing and highly accomplished botanists who have been my friends and mentors
for years,” said Dr. Turner (P. Spalding, e-mail communication, November 29,
2011). “I also felt that this award really honored the Elders and Plant Specialists
I have learned from over many decades, and recognized the importance of the
kinds of knowledge I have been documenting. I am very grateful to be recognized
as a Distinguished Economic Botanist!”
Dr. Turner is the author
of Food Plants of the Coastal First
Peoples, Food Plants of the Interior
First Peoples, and Plant Technology
of the First Peoples of British Columbia (all published by Royal British
Columbia Museum in 2010). She also coauthored The North American Guide to Poisonous Plants and Mushrooms (Timber
Press, 2009).7“Despite her very busy
schedule, Nancy always has taken the time to respond to requests from ABC to
provide her expert peer review services to us here at ABC,” said Blumenthal. “Whether
it’s an article for HerbalGram or
HerbClip, Nancy’s valuable and collegial input has helped ABC publish accurate
and responsible material on numerous ethnobotanical subjects.”
Doel Soejarto, PhD, Professor of Pharmacognosy
at the Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacognosy in the College
of Pharmacy at the University of Illinois in Chicago (UIC), has been named the DEB
of 2012. Dr. Soejarto studied botany at Harvard University, where he “discovered
several new species of Saurauia
[Actinidiaceae].”8 From 1974 to 1975, he was an ethnopharmacology
research associate at Harvard.9
Dr. Soejarto is editor of the Journal of Ethnopharmacology, and sits on the editorial board of Actualidades Biologicas. He is a member
of a number of prestigious professional organizations, and his articles have
been featured in Phytochemistry, Pharmaceutical Biology, and the Journal of Genetics and Applications.9
The SEB’s Fall 2011 newsletter, Plants
& People, featured a lengthy interview with Dr. Soejarto, in which he
said that the excitement of being in the field of medicinal plants is
“certainly in the possibility that new medicines may be discovered to alleviate
human suffering.”8
Natural Products Association Awards
The Natural Products Association (NPA), a trade association representing the
natural food and natural products industry, recently announced its awards for
2012. The NPA President’s Award is being given to author and natural medicine
expert Michael Murray, ND, president and CEO of Dr. Murray Natural Living Inc.,
and director of product development and education at Natural Factors, a leading
Canadian producer of dietary supplements for the natural food trade and integrative
health professionals.
“I’m proud to honor Michael Murray for his years of service and commitment to
the industry,” said Jeff Wright, NPA president. “He has a long and
distinguished record of achievements, including authoring more than 20 books
that provide real-world information about natural medicine and nutrition for
consumers.” Dr. Murray’s books include The
Pill Book Guide to Natural Medicines (Bantam, 2002) and The Encyclopedia of Healing Foods (Atria
Books, 2005).10
James E. Simon, PhD, received NPA’s Burton Kallman Scientific Award,
which “recognizes individuals who have made outstanding contributions that have
benefited the natural products industry.”10 Dr. Simon is the
director of Rutgers University’s new-use agriculture and natural plant
products. “James Simon is well-deserving of this honor for helping to further
our scientific understanding of new-use agriculture and natural plant
products,” said Wright. “His contributions help move us forward in developing
new and improved crops for agriculture, as well as identifying new ways to use
fruits, vegetables and herbs to support our health.” Dr. Simon has spent many
years researching medicinal and aromatic plants of Africa, and, among many additional
titles, he is the co-author of African
Natural Plant Products: New Discoveries and Challenges in Chemistry and Quality
(American Chemical Society, 2010). Dr.
Simon is also a member of the ABC Advisory Board.
NPA bestows its Clinician Awards upon “licensed healthcare practitioners whose
work exemplifies the best standards and dedication to responsible, holistic,
non-invasive and integrative, complementary, and alternative medicine
modalities.”10 This year, these awards were presented to Leanna J.
Standish, MD, and Joseph E. Pizzorno, Jr., ND.10
Dr. Standish serves as medical director of Bastyr’s Integrative Oncology
Research Clinic and is also a research professor at the university’s School of
Naturopathic Medicine. At the University of Washington, she is a clinical
professor at the School of Public Health and affiliate research professor in the
School of Medicine’s radiology department. Dr. Pizzorno is Bastyr’s founding
president emeritus and president of Salugenecists, Inc. He served on the White
House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Policy during the
Clinton Administration and currently edits Integrative
Medicine: A Clinician’s Journal.10 Among many other advisory
roles, Dr. Pizzorno is also a member of the ABC Advisory Board.
“Dr. Leanna Standish and Joseph Pizzorno represent the highest standards and
dedication to their fields. Both of them have taken a leadership role in
promoting optimal health and preventing disease,” said Wright. “They’ve been
recognized by their peers for their professionalism and accomplishments, and
they’ve demonstrated a lifelong commitment to continuing medical education
among the public.”
“I’m especially pleased to note that Joseph is a 2-time NPA award winner,”
added Wright, “with previous honors as an Industry Champion in 2003 for his
outstanding achievements.”
NPA selected the following individuals for the NPA Industry Champion Awards:
Keith Kantor, PhD, CEO of Service Foods, Inc.; Drake Sadler, co-founder of
Traditional Medicinals; Curt Valva, general manager of Aubrey Organics; and
Patrick Rea, editor and publisher of Nutrition
Business Journal.10
In response to his selection, Rea said, “I’m deeply honored
to be included in this group of award winners. I can only hope to make
the same extended contributions to the industry that my esteemed colleagues have.”
“As publisher and editorial director for Nutrition Business Journal,
Patrick Rea has made it a must-read both inside and outside the industry,” said
Wright. “His passion, commitment, and contributions to the industry are a
valuable resource for us all.”
“Patrick Rea has become the ‘go-to
guy’ for statistics on the various aspects of the natural foods and dietary
supplement industry,” said ABC’s Blumenthal. “We are deeply grateful for his
and his company’s key partnership with ABC in producing the annual Herb Market
Report that we publish in HerbalGram each
year—one of our most frequently cited articles.”
“I was grateful that NPA chose to recognize the many accomplishments and contributions
of Drake Sadler,” Blumenthal continued. “Drake is a true pioneer and key player
in the herb and natural food communities. Since he co-founded Traditional
Medicinals in the early 1970s, Drake has stayed true to his vision of providing
the public high-quality, reliable herbal teas with a many functional benefits.
He has been the leading producer of teas with herbal ingredients that meet
pharmaceutical-grade quality, and has been active in conservation and fair
trade initiatives long before they have become fashionable in many parts of
this industry.”
“Drake Sadler has helped improve the healthy habits of Americans all across the
country,” said Wright. “His idealism and entrepreneurial success are an
inspiration to the industry.”
References
1. Ikhlas
A. Khan. University of Mississippi website. Available at: www.pharmacy.olemiss.edu/pharmacognosy/khan.html.
Accessed December 16, 2011.
2. Roy
Upton Curriculum Vitae [unpublished].
3. Research
achievement award. American Society of Pharmacognosy website. Available at: www.pharmacognosy.us/grants-and-awards/grants-and-awards-archive/research-achievement-award/.
Accessed January 5, 2012.
4. Keller
A, Blunt J, Munro M. Research achievement award winners: John Blunt and Murray
Munro. ASP Newsletter. Fall 2011;47(3):10. Available at: www.pharmacognosy.us/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/ASPNL2011VIWinter1.pdf.
Accessed January 7, 2012.
5. Awards
and Honors: Chris M. Ireland, PhD. University of Utah website. Available at: www.pharmacy.utah.edu/CoP_Information/Chris%20Ireland.html.
Accessed January 9, 2012.
6. Faculty
profile: Chris M. Ireland. University of Utah website. Available at: http://faculty.utah.edu/u0035149-CHRIS_M_IRELAND/bibliography/index.hml.
Accessed January 9, 2012.
7. Nancy
Turner. University of Victoria website. Available at: http://web.uvic.ca/enweb/people/faculty/turner.php.
Accessed December 7, 2011.
8. Offringa,
L. Interview with 2012 DEB Doel Soejarto, PhD. Plants & People. Fall 2011;25:14-16. Available at: http://econbot.org/webmaster/pubs_p&p/issues/2011_fall.pdf.
Accessed December 21, 2011.
9. D.D. Soejarto, PhD. University of Illinois at
Chicago department of medicinal chemistry and pharmacognosy website. Available
at: http://foto.pharm.uic.edu/mcp/people/soejarto_dd.html. Accessed January 9, 2011.
10. NPA Awards Honor Outstanding Contributions to
the Natural Products Industry [press release]. Washington, DC: Natural Products
Association; January 3, 2012. Available at: www.npainfo.org/index.php?src=news&submenu=GMPcert&srctype=detail&category=pressreleases2012&refno=364. Accessed January 4, 2012.
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