Mark Blumenthal

 

Mark is the founder and executive director of the American Botanical Council (ABC), the editor/publisher of HerbalGram, and the senior editor of three of ABC’s books. He represents ABC in the media, to stakeholders, and at conventions, conferences, and other appearances. He has guided ABC strategically since its founding, and is widely viewed as one of the most effective botanical advocates and educators for several decades.

 

Anthony L. Almada, MSc

 

Anthony’s industry experience is notable, from working in natural products retail stores in the late 70s-early 80’s, to his stint creating products for Metagenics in the 1980’s, to creating the first “thermogenic” product in 1993 for KAL, to his co-founding EAS in 1993. Other experience includes founder, President and Chief Science Officer of IMAGINutrition and MetaResponse Sciences; Co-founder, president and CEO of GENr8. His reputation for holding industry to high scientific standards is legendary.

 

Wendy Wang, PhD

 

Wendy, president of Advanced Botanical Consulting & Testing, has been involved in nutritional supplements testing since 1994. Previous positions include Lab Tech director at Frontier Natural Products Co-Op and Botanical Technical Support Director for Leiner. She is much published, including as a contributing author to several American Herbal Pharmacopoeia monographs, a chapter on botanical method development and validation published by the American Chemical Society, and is a Journal Advisory Board member of the peer reviewed journal Current Topics in Nutraceutical Research.

 

Leonid G. Ber, M.D.

 

After graduating Yaroslavle State Medical School in the former Soviet Union in 1988, Dr. Ber specialized in endocrinology and hematology, practiced and tought medicine at the State Nursing Academy and was a Regional Research Leader in the Zymosan Project.  He relocated to the US after accepting a position of Vice-President of R&D at Immudyne, Inc. in 1993. Currently he is employed as a Sr. Director of Research at Garden of Life, Inc. Author of several US patents, he collaborated with late Dr. Ramazanov on several projects.

 

Richard  P. Brown. M.D.

 

Dr. Richard P. Brown is Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Columbia University. After receiving his M.D. in 1977 from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, Dr. Brown completed his Residency in Psychiatry and a Fellowship in Psychobiology and Psychopharmacology at New York Hospital. In 1999, Dr. Brown introduced S-adenosylmethionine (SAM-e) for treatment of depression at the New York Academy of Medicine. Dr. Brown is the recipient of numerous awards and has authored over 80 articles and book chapters on pharmacological and clinical studies in psychiatry. He gives over 200 medical lectures every year.

 

Miguel Jimenez del Rio, Ph.D

 

Dr. Jimenez studied at the University of Cordoba, Spain under Dr. Ramazanov where he completed his fellowship in Plant Biochemistry. He is widely published in peer-reviewed journals on the topics of organic biochemistry and analytical methodology. Currently, Dr. Jimenez serves as the President and the Scientific Director of Polifenoles Naturales, S.L., Spain, a manufacturer of aquatic extracts utilizing research done in collaboration with Dr. Ramazanov. Dr. Jimenez had the rare opportunity of being a student, long-time friend and colleague of Dr. Ramazanov.

 

R. Steven Sikorski, Ph.D.

 

Dr. Sikorski received his Ph.D in Organic Chemistry from the University of Iowa. Among his wide spectrum of professional interests lies optimization of enzymatically driven biochemical reactions. After several years of teaching and research, he entered the nutritional industry. He is currently serving as a Technology Development Director at Futureceuticals, Inc. Dr. Sikorski is well published in peer-reviewed journals. During the last several years, he had collaborated with Dr. Ramazanov on a number of projects relating to botanical extracts and their biological activity.

 

Larry Switzer

 

Larry Switzer is a recognized pioneer in natural product innovation – with a successful career spanning over 30 years. He is one of the founders of the green foods revolution, launching Earthrise Spirulina in 1976.  Since then, Larry has been a market leader in the introduction of a number of innovative supplements. He was the first to sponsor what became the industry-wide movement to standardize the testing of all key supplement ingredients. Larry continues to be a strong advocate of rigorously science-based formulations rooted in clinical efficacy in the service of informed, effective, and affordable self-care for every American. Larry was an active colleague and close friend of Dr. Zakir Ramazanov.