AHPA appoints new chief science officer

09-Sep-2013 - Last updated on 10-Sep-2013 at 02:01 GMT

Maged Sharaf, PhD, has joined the American Herbal Products Association as its new chief science officer.

Prior to joining AHPA, Dr. Sharaf spent 15 years with the United States Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) in several capacities including director herbal medicine standards in the department of foods, dietary supplements and herbal medicines.

While at USP, Sharaf co-developed the Dietary Supplements Compendium, a resource of public standards and guidelines for the dietary supplement industry worldwide. He also developed botanical standards for inclusion in the United States Pharmacopeia-National Formulary (USP-NF) and participated in building and implementing the Dietary Supplement Verification Program (a public health program) and the Dietary Ingredient Verification Program (a program for the dietary supplement industry).

"I am excited to join AHPA and I look forward to working with the botanical industry to promote AHPA's mission to support the responsible commerce of herbal products," said Sharaf.

Before USP, Dr. Sharaf taught undergraduate and graduate courses in pharmacognosy, pharmaceutical sciences, and instrumentations.

Sharaf replaces Stephen Dentali, PhD, who left to join network marketing giant Herbalife.