Please fill out your email address as a unique identifier to ensure one vote per person. Voting will be anonymous otherwise.

Please fill out the following ballot for the BSC Steering Committee Members. We will elect one (1) public sector committee member and two (2) private sector committee members to serve from Q3 2021 to the end of Q2 2023. When selecting your vote, please take into consideration the nominee’s biography, geographic location, and the type of organization the person represents and how it would add to the balance of the current steering committee.

Current Steering Committee:

  • Cynthia Rider – National Toxicology Program. Co-chair of BSC
  • Cara Welch – US Food and Drug Administration. Co-chair of BSC
  • Stefan Gafner – American Botanical Council. Public Sector Member
  • Holly Johnson – American Herbal Products Association. Trade Association Member
  • Daniel Marsman – Procter and Gamble. Private Sector Member

Nominees for 2021-2022

[simple_tooltip bubblewidth='1024' content='Statement: Greetings and thank you for your consideration for a seat on the Botanical Safety Consortium Steering Committee.

My name is Elan Sudberg and I am the CEO of Alkemist Labs. Alkemist Labs has been testing the industry’s botanicals for nearly 25 years and while I may be the least formally educated/decorated applicant, I offer a wealth of real-life experience on what is happening in the industry. Unlike any other current member of the steering committee or technical committees I bring to the table data from the trenches. Over 20,000 specimens of plants arrive each year for analysis hailing from the 2000 species the industry trades and it’s my job to test them for Identity and Potency. We know what is happening and the ebbs and flows of quality.

If selected for a seat on the steering committee I will be quick to meaningfully participate and happily share the botanicals we are testing, their adulterants/contaminants and most importantly, help steer the committee to produce recommendations to enhance the botanical safety for the industry.

Thank you for your consideration.']Elan Sudberg
Sector: Private
Affiliation: Alkemist Labs

Technical Working Group: Chemical Analysis

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[simple_tooltip bubblewidth='1024' content='Statement: Public health protection by providing scientific approaches to support the safety assessment of botanicals used in dietary applications is an important driver of my activity as a researcher and also has highest priority for my organization. In accordance to BSC´s principles and rules of engagement, we believe that achieving this goal requires open, active, and ethical collaborations involving scientists with diverse technical and professional expertise, and that the values collaboration, respect. transparency, independencs, integrity and equal opportunities to all are key. So, applying here, for serving these goals, is a logical consequence, given that, due to my personal background and experience as a researcher in the field of botanicals, I have good preconditions to contribute in a useful way to the work of the committee.
This includes long standing experience in research on botanicals in different roles, e.g. as a leader of a pharmacological laboratory, as well as a group of medical specialists and clinical researchers, as a member of toxiclogical expert working groups of ICH, as a member of boards of scientific societies in the field, and, last but not least, author or co-author of numerous scientific contributions in the field. This all is giving me, as mentioned, the background to contribute in a useful way to the work of the committee.']Olaf Kelber
Sector: Private

Affiliation: Phytomedicines Supply and Development Center, Bayer Consumer Health
Technical Working Group: Pharmacognosy

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[simple_tooltip bubblewidth='1024' content='Statement: As a practicing naturopathic physician and further, as the vice president and head of Herbalife Nutrition’s Global Consumer Safety Department, I am committed to helping patients and consumers stay aware of practices that will help them develop dietary habits that are supportive of good health. Therefore, my team and I remain vigilant in supporting initiatives that help ensure foods and food supplements, when used as intended, are safe and efficacious. This includes making sure we adhere to the most rigorous consumer risk management protocols in our industry and continue to utilize new or improved methodologies that enhance our ability to identify potential consumer safety risks. In fact, my 13-year career at Herbalife Nutrition to date includes leading the development of a robust global post-market signal detection procedure for the company (for 94 different markets) and championing post-market research initiatives (clinical, animal, in vitro, etc) to investigate potential safety trends or other emerging research opportunities when appropriate.

Since joining the BSC Hepatotoxicity Working Group in February 2021, it has been my pleasure to support the team in developing more predictive models for botanically-induced liver injury as the nutravigilance community has few tools/techniques that objectively and comprehensively evaluate the safety of botanical ingredients in this manner. In addition, the clinical presentations associated with hepatoxicity (especially as they may relate to host susceptibility) are often highly nuanced and I have been eager to lend this perspective to help the team account for these factors where possible as screening level assays are developed.

At Herbalife Nutrition I also work collaboratively with other experts in botanical science/safety, toxicology, quality assurance, and analytical chemistry, amongst others; each of whom are dedicated to producing safe and effective products containing botanical ingredients. We are collectively committed to exploring alternatives to animal testing methods and encourage our suppliers to use alternative methods whenever feasible. This commitment encourages us to help identify and attempt to lend validation to possible alternative assays when reviewing botanical ingredients. For this reason, I believe the work that the BSC is doing towards building a botanical safety toolkit is essential as we move away from animal testing models and increase specificity for proactive consumer safety measures.

I am confident that the extensive network of expert support that I bring to BSC community from Herbalife Nutrition, my professional background and expertise, and sincerest intentions to fully support the BSC’s purpose and progression, would be an asset to the Steering Committee. I hope that the BSC will consider my candidacy and look forward to being a part of this effort. Thank you.']Kristy Appelhans, MSRA, NMD
Sector: Private
Affiliation: Herbalife Nutrition
Technical Working Group: Hepatotoxicity/ ADME
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[simple_tooltip bubblewidth='1024' content='Statement: I believe that safety evaluation of botanical products is an urgent issue that needs to be addressed immediately for the protection of the ever increasing human population that use herbal medicines and supplements for health improvement and to combat diseases. In the last four decades, I have been, and continue to be, active in the application of in vitro experimental systems in the evaluation of drug metabolism, drug-drug interactions, and toxicity of complex environmental mixtures, pharmaceuticals, and most recently, herbal supplements. I am happy to extend my expertise and experience to aid the BSC Steering Committee in the development an effective strategy for human safety assessment of botanical products.']Albert Li
Sector: Private
Affiliation: In Vitro ADMET Laboratories Inc.
Technical Working Group: Hepatotoxicity/ ADME

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[simple_tooltip bubblewidth='1024' content='Statement: I would like to serve on the steering committee so that I may be better suited to get an overview of the consortiums activities and contribute to the overall direction and outcome.']Heather Walker
Sector: Private
Affiliation: Bayer
Technical Working Group: Hepatotoxicity/ ADME

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[simple_tooltip bubblewidth='1024' content='I would like to increase my involvement in the Botanical Safety Consortium. I have worked with dietary supplements and their ingredients for ten years. In that time Ive seen good and bad ingredients/products, knowledgeable and not knowledgeable clients/companies, and learned the absolute importance of fit for purpose testing for extracts and specialized materials. I believe plants are important medicines and the more industry, practitioners and trade organizations know about them, plants will used more readily and safely. In my work as an analytical chemist and laboratory technical lead I have tested many raw material botanicals and botanical containing products. I have worked with clients to determine the best course of testing protocols for their specific materials. I have worked on developing multiple product specific HP-TLC and/or LC methods. I have worked with clients and their suppliers to develop qualified reference materials to be used in routine analysis. Thank you in advance for your consideration.']Dagney McCready
Sector: Private
Affiliation: Eurofins
Technical Working Group: Data Analysis

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[simple_tooltip bubblewidth='1024' content='Statement: The BSC is an innovative workstream that is on the path to establish a scientific strategy that evaluates the safety of complex mixtures. I want to serve on the BSC Steering Committee to help set the Consortium for continued success as that scientific strategy is developed.
My enthusiasm for the BSC work is matched by my personal passion to modernize the field of toxicology. I have been active in the field of toxicology for over a decade, with the last two years applying my skills successfully as a food safety toxicologist at PepsiCo conducting human health risk assessments. My training within the field of toxicology (e.g. new approach methodologies, bioanalytical chemistry, mechanisms of action) along with my experiences in applied toxicology has also offered me insight into broader, big picture initiatives within the field that I would be excited to apply to the BSC Steering Committee’s efforts.

One other reason I would like to serve on the Steering Committee is that I want to drive and highlight, however possible and when appropriate, the great work being conducted to key stakeholders. For example, even though this work is smartly focusing on botanical dietary supplements of interest and concern, the basic scientific principles being explored have relevance to other sub-specialties of toxicology. As a food safety toxicologist, I recognize that these principles could be leveraged for relevant ingredients and food substances (e.g., natural color additives) to further build confidence in the safety of the global food supply. Highlighting these key principles through stakeholder engagement, it is my expectation that the expertise driving the results of the Technical Working Groups will be expanded as well as the work output of the BSC more broadly accepted.

I believe my experience, enthusiasm, and hope for the BSC at-large will greatly benefit the BSC Steering Committee. However, of the many reasons I want to serve on this committee, the desire to drive the field of toxicology forward in a responsible manner is certainly at the top. By serving on the Steering Committee, I will work to continue the success of the Consortium.']Phillip Wages
Sector: Private
Affiliation: PepsiCo
Technical Working Group: Data Analysis
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[simple_tooltip bubblewidth='1024' content='Statement: Dr Oketch-Rabah Statement for BSC Steering Committee
I am a Pharmacognosist and a Senior Toxicologist and currently a senior Manager & Senior Scientific Liaison in the Department of Dietary Supplements and Herbal Medicines at the United States Pharmacopeia (USP). My role at USP includes leading the front end of USP/NF dietary supplement monograph development activities that determine the nomenclature of DS articles and admission of dietary ingredients for monograph development.
Previous to joining USP I was the Principal Scientist at Herb Pharm Inc an FDA inspected dietary supplement manufacturing facility in Oregon, USA. Earlier in my career I was a senior lecturer of Pharmacognosy at the School of Pharmacy in the University of Nairobi (UoN). During my tenure at the UoN, I secured research grants from various organizations including the International Foundation for Science (IFS), The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation), including a capacity building and research grant from the World Health Organization (WHO) for the Research and Development of Botanical Antimalarials.

I received my Ph.D. in Pharmacognosy/Pharmaceutical Chemistry from the Royal Danish School of Pharmacy in Denmark. I have presented at more than 50 scientific conferences, published over 40 peer-reviewed articles, written 2 book chapters, and was one of the scientists featured in the documentary on herbal medicines- “Numen the Nature of Plants”. Currently I am an active member of the Society of Toxicology and American Society of Pharmacognosy and a reviewer for a number of Journals including, Nutrition Journal, PLoS ONE, Food & Chemical Toxicology, and Phytotherapy Research. I am currently an Executive Guest Editor for Current Neuropharmacology and on the Editorial board of the Journal of Modern Medicinal Chemistry (JMMC).

My interest in botanicals and herbals dates back to my childhood since my mother was a herbalist. I have been fortunate to study the science behind herbals and have had an interest in the quality, safety and efficacy of botanicals throughout my entire career. This interest drove me to join the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) a company whose mission is to promote public health through public quality standards among other activities. During my now ten-year tenure at USP, I have revamped, developed and managed the admission evaluation program at USP. The purpose of admission evaluation is to ascertain that botanical and non-botanical ingredients slated for monograph development are not associated with any serious risk to health. The evaluations include a comprehensive literature review that present a dietary ingredient’s known public health and safety profile, including the ingredient’s chemistry, typical intake levels, potential adulterants or contaminants, clinical trial and toxicological data, and potential adverse interactions. Working with USP experts, I have spearheaded the development of guidelines and strengthened the program to ensure that thorough evaluations of ingredients are performed, and the evaluations are published in peer-reviewed journals.

I believe that with my knowledge of pharmacognosy, toxicology and a deep understanding of botanicals as well as my experience at USP I am well placed to contribute to shaping the Botanical Safety Consortium if elected as a member of the steering committee.']Hellen A Oketch-Rabah
Sector: Public
Affiliation: United States Pharmacopeia (USP)
Technical Working Group: Pharmacognosy
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[simple_tooltip bubblewidth='1024' content='Statement: To learn/contribute in enhancing the approaches to evaluate safety of BSC. Considering the intricacies involved in the safety evaluation of Botanicals, I believe with the expertise and experience of the team members we can develop a robust strategic solution to evaluate safety of botanicals for the genotoxicity end point. I have been actively involved in the safety assessment of consumer products containing botanicals for more than seven years and am actively evaluating genotoxic potential for botanicals used in fragrances in my current role. Hence I would be happy to help/learn/contribute to the effort of Botanical safety evaluation']Yax Thakkar
Sector: Public
Affiliation: RIFM INC.
Technical Working Group: Genotoxicity

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[simple_tooltip bubblewidth='1024' content='Statement: As a member of the Chemical Analysis Technical Working Group since April 2020, I am familiar with and support the goals of the Botanical Safety Committee. I have been studying the safety and efficacy of botanical dietary supplements for over 25 years in projects funded by the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements and the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. This experience included serving as director of the UIC/NIH Center for Botanical Dietary Supplements Research while at the University of Illinois at Chicago and then overseeing similar projects at the Linus Pauling Institute of Oregon State University. During my 24 years in the Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacognosy at the University of Illinois at Chicago, I learned much about pharmacognosy working alongside experts like Norman Farnsworth, Doug Kinghorn, Doel Soejarto, and Guido Pauli. For over 25 years, I have used quantitative analytical chemistry including LC-MS/MS for the chemical standardization and authentication of botanical extracts. With a Ph.D. in pharmacology from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, I have also studied human absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion of natural products including active botanical constituents. These studies included the use of in vitro preclinical models of safety and mechanisms of action as well as Phase I and II clinical trials of botanical safety and efficacy. Based on many years of experience in natural products chemistry, pharmacognosy, and ADME, which are some of the technical areas overseen by the BSC Steering Committee, I believe that I have much to contribute to this team.']Richard B. van Breemen
Sector: Public
Affiliation: Oregon State University
Technical Working Group: Chemical Analysis

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