SILVER SPRING, Md.—The American Herbal Products Association (AHPA) announced the winners of its fifth annual AHPA Awards. “AHPA honors and thanks these leaders for their significant contributions to the herbal products industry,” said Michael McGuffin, AHPA’s president. “Each honoree is committed to excellence and understands that continual industry growth depends on the individual actions and decisions made by members of our business community.” The winners are:
Katie Huggins, vice president of quality control, Traditional Medicinals, was named the 2010 AHPA Herbal Hero in recognition of her outstanding contributions to AHPA committees and initiatives. She is currently vice chair of AHPA’s Board of Trustees and chair of the Board of Directors of the AHPA Foundation for Education and Research on Botanicals; she is also actively involved in numerous AHPA committees. Among other initiatives, Huggins has played a leading role in the development of educational events on GMPs (good manufacturing practices) and the creation of AHPA guidance policies and trade requirements.
The Herbal Insight Award goes to Ikhlas Khan, Ph.D., assistant director, National Center for Natural Products Research and Professor of Pharmacognosy, University of Mississippi for furthering the knowledge and understanding of medicinal and aromatic plants. His efforts on behalf of herbal knowledge include his commitment to fostering the research of future generations of botanical scientists, enhancing knowledge of botanicals among regulators through his role as director of the FDA Center for Excellence in Botanicals at the National Center for Natural Products Research, and contributing to the growing body of science on botanicals. His primary research interests include analytical fingerprinting for standardization of herbal products, and bio-analytical approaches to improvement of product quality and safety.
Finally, Gaia Herbs, Brevard, NC, received the Herbal Industry Leader award, which recognizes a company with outstanding business practices. Since its founding in 1987, Gaia has provided leadership in moving the industry forward above and beyond normal business practices as a socially-responsible business and a certified-organic grower and manufacturer of liquid herbal extracts. Notable achievements include advancements in the understanding of echinacea through research funded by federal Small Business Innovative Research grants; recent introduction of the EarthBottle™; charitable donations of organic produce through its Community Supported Agriculture project; consistent support of naturopathic medical education, including the annual Medicines from the Earth Symposium, now in its 18th year; successful development of its 250 acre commercial, educational and research farm in western North Carolina, and key support for an 800-acre public-private botanical sanctuary and medicinal plant research farm in Costa Rica.