In a June 2006 press release, the American Botanical Council announced the appointment of new members to its Advisory Board: John A. Beutler, PhD, and John H. Cardellina, PhD.

Dr. Beutler is a well-known pharma-cognosist (one who studies drugs of natural origin) and Dr. Cardellina is a highly regarded natural products chemist. Both scientists are employed as researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), a division of the US Department of Health and Human Services’ National Institutes of Health (NIH).

“We are deeply grateful and honored to have these two respected, world-class scientific researchers become formally associated with ABC,” said ABC’s Founder and Executive Director Mark Blumenthal. “We have enjoyed many years of cooperation with and support from each of these outstanding gentlemen and we thought it was past time for us to publicly acknowledge their contributions to ABC’s nonprofit educational mission.”

John A. Beutler is a Staff Scientist in the Molecular Targets Development Program at the NCI in Frederick, MD. Dr. Beutler received his doctorate in pharmacognosy from Professor Ara Der Marderosian at the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science (now known as University of the Sciences). He has extensive expertise in the study of plant-derived anti-tumor agents. Dr. Beutler is currently the co-editor-in-chief of Review of Natural Products and was formerly the editor of the Quarterly Journal of Crude Drug Research, now published as Pharmaceutical Biology.

“It’s a pleasure to formalize the long-standing relationship I have had with HerbalGram and ABC,” said Beutler. “The work of ABC is really important for public health, both in highlighting useful herbs, and pointing out potentially risky ones.”

John H. Cardellina is the Expert Chemist at the Developmental Therapeutics Program at NCI in Frederick. Dr. Cardellina was formerly the vice-president for botanical sciences at the Council for Responsible Nutrition in Washington, DC, a leading dietary supplement industry trade association, and he is also the past-president of the American Society of Pharmacognosy, a professional organization of research scientists. In addition to his research at NCI, Dr. Cardellina serves as a book reviewer for both Journal of Natural Products and Journal of the American Chemical Society.

“I am delighted and honored to be part of the ABC team, in some small way,” said Cardellina. “I’ve always appreciated the effort and commitment of ABC to provide accurate, timely, and useful information on botanicals and products made from botanicals.”

In addition to numerous other duties, the primary role Advisory Board members play at ABC is participating in the peer review of ABC publications. They also assist in an advisory capacity, helping to determine ABC policy and activities. Drs. Beutler and Cardellina join 64 other scientists, clinicians, and other experts who currently comprise the ABC Advisory Board. The names of all 66 ABC Advisory Board members are listed in ABC’s quarterly peer-reviewed journal, HerbalGram, and on the ABC Web site (www.herbalgram.org).