American Botanical Council Announces Recipients of Botanical Excellence Awards

ANAHEIM, Calif., March 15 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The 5th Annual American Botanical Council Celebration and Awards Ceremony took place Thursday, March 11, honoring individuals and companies who influence the present and future of the herbal medicine movement. The ABC event was part of the annual Natural Products Expo West trade show and Nutracon scientific conference.

"ABC takes great pleasure in presenting this year's awards to these most-deserving recipients," said ABC Founder and Executive Director Mark Blumenthal. "As part of ABC's nonprofit educational mission, we believe it is important to recognize excellence in achievement in the respective fields that these recipients operate.

"The process of choosing these awardees was difficult, as there were many other deserving nominees," Blumenthal continued. "That is one of the many positive aspects of the rich and varied world of botanical medicine -- there are numerous people in many parts of the world who are doing great work -- in writing and publishing, in academic phytomedicinal research, and in the corporate world where pharmacological and clinical research and production of high quality and effective herbal products are becoming increasingly common."

ABC's James A. Duke Excellence in Botanical Literature Award

This year's James A. Duke Excellence in Botanical Literature Award was given to Lucia Tongiorgi Tomasi and Tony Willis for their new book An Oak Spring Herbaria: Herbs and Herbals from the Fourteenth to the Nineteenth Centuries: A Selection of the Rare Books, Manuscripts and Works of Art in the Collection of Rachel Lambert Mellon.(1) The book was published by the Oak Spring Garden Library in Upperville, Virginia in 2009.

This award, created in 2006 in honor of ABC co-founding Board of Trustees member James A. Duke, Ph.D., is given annually to a book or book service that provides a significant contribution to literature in the fields of botany, taxonomy, ethnobotany, phytomedicine, or other disciplines related to the vast field of medicinal plants.

An Oak Spring Herbaria features 63 black-and-white and color scans of herbal paintings and other plant art ranging from the 14th to 19th centuries -- all selected from the library's extensive collection. The book also contains a richly-detailed history of the early origins of herbal art and literature, as well as the development of herbals and their uses. 

"Every once in a while, a book arrives that changes whatever plans I may have had for the day. So it is with An Oak Spring Herbaria, an extraordinary work," said ABC Board of Trustees President Steven Foster. "I love the fact that it included illustrated American herbals of note. When the book arrived, I stopped what I was doing and thumbed through it leaf by leaf."

Co-author Lucia Tomasi, Ph.D., is a professor of art history at the University of Pisa in Italy. Currently she directs and coordinates the university's collection of drawings and prints. Dr. Tomasi has often published on the history of art, botanical illustration, and garden design.

Co-author Tony Willis has worked at the Oak Spring Garden Library as a librarian for almost 30 years. Willis has extensive training in gardening and the history of the printed book from the Oak Spring Garden Library itself and the prestigious Rare Book School at the University of Virginia.

"I think it's absolutely amazing to receive this award on behalf of the library and Mrs. Mellon's collection," said Willis. "We are surprised and so grateful!"

Dr. Tomasi, likewise, expressed her appreciation for the award, which she says recognizes her 20 years of work. "We are so happy to have had the honor to have contributed to the world this extraordinary artistic and scientific treasure stored at Oak Spring Garden Library (Mrs. Rachel Mellon Foundation)," she said.

"For those who like old herbal art on the coffee table, this one excels," said Dr. Duke. "Under Mrs. Duke's artistic eye, I have placed my copy on the coffee table."

An Oak Spring Herbaria is the 4th volume in a series about Rachel Mellon's private collection of rare books and drawings concerning plants and gardening. Other volumes in the series include An Oak Spring Sylva (1990), An Oak Spring Pomona (1990), and An Oak Spring Flora (1997).

ABC's Norman R. Farnsworth Excellence in Botanical Research Award

This year's recipient of the Norman R. Farnsworth Excellence in Botanical Research Award is Prof. Rudolf Bauer, Ph.D., head of the Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences and of the Department of Pharmacognosy at the University of Graz in Austria. He has spent many years researching echinacea: its active compounds, constituents, pharmacology, quality control, standardization, and safety.

The award is named for ABC co-founding Board of Trustee Prof. Norman R. Farnsworth, Ph.D. ABC presents this award each year to a person or institution who has made significant contributions to botanical and/or pharmacognostic research.

Dr. Bauer received his Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Biology in 1984 from the University of Munich. He literally "wrote the book" on echinacea(2) (with co-author Prof. Hildebert Wagner, Ph.D.) and in 1987 co-wrote a groundbreaking paper on echinacea authentication.(3) Recently, he's helped elucidate the mechanisms of action for some of echinacea's constituents (alkamides) while helping train the next generation of pharmacologists through his teaching. Dr. Bauer has published 250 scientific publications, served as editor and co-editor of several books, and has been a member of the editorial and review boards of several scientific journals. He is a past co-editor of the international journal Planta Medica, and he has served as the international Society for Medicinal Plant Research's president (2002–2007) and vice-president (1998–2002 and 2007–2009).

"I feel very much honored and happy to receive this award," said Dr. Bauer. "I've known Dr. Farnsworth for 30 years and feel very proud. He is the leading figure in the field, he's an outstanding scientist, and he's also a character with an outstanding personality as well. It is wonderful to have my work appreciated in this way and encourages me to continue it."

"I've known Rudy Bauer since he was a student, and I've followed his career closely," said Prof. Farnsworth. "I was pleased he was given this award based on his research on the pharmacology and phytochemistry of medicinal plants. He's an expert on echinacea. I am very proud of him."

ABC's Varro E. Tyler Commercial Investment in Phytomedicinal Research Award

This year's Varro E. Tyler Commercial Investment in Phytomedicinal Research Award goes to Bionorica AG, a manufacturer and clinical researcher of herbal remedies, with phytomedicinal products sold in 40 countries.

The award was named after the late Prof. Varro E. Tyler, Ph.D., former dean of the College of Academic Affairs at Purdue. Dr. Tyler was a leading authority in botanical medicines and a Trustee of ABC.

Founded in 1933, Bionorica AG's headquarters and herb extraction and manufacturing plant are located in Neumarkt, Germany, with many additional laboratories that focus on quality in various other locations.(4) Bionorica takes an approach to creating clinically-proven health products that it calls "phytoneering," a process that includes finding plants with the strongest healing properties, controlling production from the research stage to extraction and development of finished product, as well as performing clinical research to determine the efficacy and safety of its products. In its history, Bionorica claims to have had relationships with researchers at over 400 universities.

Bionorica has produced more than 450 published chemical, pharmacological, and clinical trials on its line of phytomedicines. The company manufactures Sinupret®, a 5-herb combination for sinus health. Thirty-six preclinical and clinical trials on Sinupret's pharmacology and safety and efficacy have been published, and 23 unpublished trials have been performed on Sinupret, mostly on its preclinical aspects.

Sinupret is the top-selling herbal remedy in Germany, and it was the most popular cough and cold remedy chosen by self-selection and self-medication in Germany in 2006, 2007, and 2008. In 2009, ABC published an extensive product-specific monograph summarizing the pharmacological and clinical trials on Sinupret, available at the ABC website here.

In addition to Sinupret, Bionorica produces numerous clinically tested phytomedicines: Menopret® (previously called Klimadynon®), a respected extract of black cohosh used for menopausal relief; an extract of chaste tree berries used for menstrual irregularities; Asalixx™, a willow bark extract, for low back pain, joint pain, and chronic conditions; and others.

"We are very pleased to receive this award from ABC," said Prof. Michael Popp, third generation CEO of Bionorica.

"We are excited about our U.S. expansion, and we thank the American Botanical Council for this recognition," said Wolfgang Aulenbacher, Bionorica's U.S. CEO.

"Bionorica has an outstanding reputation for excellent management of herbs from the time they go into the ground to the time they go into the bottle," said Mary Hardy, MD, medical director of Simms/Mann-UCLA Center for Integrative Oncology.

"Bionorica has one of the most outstanding phytochemical labs I've ever seen," she continued. "Their research covers the gamut from botany to human clinical trials. I would like to see their year-long safety study on black cohosh become a model for the industry."

Bionorica products are distributed in the United States through Bionorica LLC in San Clemente, California (www.bionoricausa.com).

Editor's Note: In bestowing this award, ABC is not endorsing the company or its products but rather acknowledging that company's impressive commitment to phytomedicinal research.

 References

1. Tomasi LT, Willis T. An Oak Spring Herbaria: Herbs and Herbals from the Fourteenth to the Nineteenth Centuries: A Selection of the Rare Books, Manuscripts and Works of Art in the Collection of Rachel Lambert Mellon. Upperville, VA: Oak Spring Garden Library; 2009.

2. Bauer R, Wagner H. Echinacea–Ein Handbuch fur Arzte, Apotheker und andere Naturwissenschaftler, Wissenschaftliche Verlagsgesellschaft mbH Stuttgart, Germany; 1990.

3. Bauer R, Khan IA, Wagner H. Echinacea–Nachweis einer Verfalschung von Echinacea purpurea (L.) Moench mit Parthenium integrifolium L. Dtsch. Apoth. Ztg. 1987; 127:1325–1330.

4. Bionorica history page. Bionorica website. Available at: http://www.bionorica.de/cda/our_company/history/content-113460.html. Accessed February 16, 2010.

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/..

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SOURCE American Botanical Council