Dennis J. McKenna - Botanical Medicines: The Desk Reference for Major Herbal Supplements

Dennis McKenna, PhD, has worked in the interdisciplinary fields of pharmacognosy, ethnopharmacology, and ethnobotany for over twenty years. Dr. McKenna received post-doctoral research fellowships in the Laboratory of Clinical Pharmacology, National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), and in the Department of Neurology, Stanford University School of Medicine. In 1990, he joined Shaman Pharmaceuticals as Director of Ethnopharmacology and later worked as Senior Research Pharmacognosist for the Aveda Corporation. He is currently a Senior Lecturer at the Center for Spirituality and Healing in the Academic Health Center at the University of Minnesota. Dr. McKenna serves on the Advisory Board of the American Botanical Council and on the Editorial Board of Phytomedicine, The International Journal of Phytotherapy and Phytopharmacology.

Kenneth Jones is a medical writer specializing in food and medicinal plants. His work has appeared in both lay and professional publications, including The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, Alternative and Complementary Therapies, and others. He is the author of various books on specific medicinal plants: Cordyceps: Tonic Food of Ancient China; Reishi: Ancient Herb for Modern Times; Cat's Claw: Healing Vine of Peru; Shiitake: The Healing Mushroom; and Pau d'arco. As President of Armana Research, Inc., he has provided product development consulting services as well as written and research materials to botanical supplement companies in North America and abroad since 1986. He also serves as Educational Director and Assistant Editor for the Institute of Natural Products Research, a nonprofit organization in the United States.

Kerry Hughes, MSc, is an ethnobotanist specializing in product development, plant commercialization, and medical writing for the natural products industry. She founded EthnoPharm Consulting as a platform to bring new plants and plant uses to market, and to help widen our medicinal knowledge of plants in health care. Kerry has worked with natural product companies throughout the United States and in South America, Europe, and Asia on the development of plant products for the functional food, dietary supplement, specialty food, and cosmetic markets. She writes and speaks frequently on the subject of botanicals, their use in medicine and science, and the development of botanical products from indigenous cultures. Kerry currently serves as the Director of EthnoPharm Consulting, and is a Contributing and FieldEditor for Prepared Foods and Nutrasolutions magazines. She continues to serve as Assistant Editor to the Institute for Natural Products Research (INPR), and is the Product Development Advisor for Rockland Food Ingredients (RFI). She serves on the Journal Advisory Board for Current Topics in Nutraceutical Research, and is a Scientific Advisor for Supplement Watch.com.

Sheila Humphrey received a BSc from the University of British Columbia, Canada, in 1996, majoring in Botany. After graduate work in plant ecology, she switched to professional nursing, receiving her RN in 1984. She has been a certified La Leche League Leader since 1990, counseling breastfeeding mothers seeking information and support. In 1996, she qualified as an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC). She has continued her work with La Leche League as an information resource for complex breastfeeding situations, particularly questions involving medications including herbs. Over the last five years, she has made an intensive evaluation of both the lactation and botanical literature, focusing on safety and efficacy issues of herb use during pregnancy and lactation. She has presented continuing education lectures on herbs and breastfeeding for health care professionals including a co-presentation with Dennis McKenna at the La Leche League International Conference in 2001. She has lectured at the University of Minnesota on the ethnopharmacology of herbs traditionally used for reproductive health. She continues to act as an information resource on herbs for La Leche League International, as well as lactation professionals in the United States and abroad. She is currently writing a book for mothers on the use of herbs and other dietary supplements during lactation.