2016 ABC Mark Blumenthal Community Builder Award
Ikhlas Khan, PhD, director of the National Center for Natural Products Research (NCNPR) at the University of Mississippi (UM), was named as the recipient of the 2016 ABC Mark Blumenthal Herbal Community Builder Award.
The annual award, named for ABC Founder and Executive Director Mark Blumenthal, is given to an individual who has played a significant role in creating a sense of community among herbalists, researchers, members of the herb and natural products communities, and related individuals who work in the area of medicinal plants.
“I am honored to receive this recognition — this award named after Mark Blumenthal, who is a living example of a community builder,” said Khan.
Blumenthal said that “through organizing the International Conference on the Science of Botanicals (ICSB) for 17 years, in partnership with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Professor Ikhlas Khan has created a global community of researchers, regulators, and others who have an interest in furthering the appropriate production and responsible use of scientifically supported medicinal plants products.”
NCNPR is part of UM’s Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (RIPS) and is a primary partner with ABC and the American Herbal Pharmacopoeia (AHP) in the ABC-AHP-NCNPR Botanical Adulterants Program.
Khan’s primary research interests include drug discovery from medicinal plants and developing reference standards and laboratory analytical methods for botanical identity, purity, and safety. He is a research professor of pharmacognosy at UM.
