Members of the Expert Advisory Committee Office
of Natural
Health Products
Wah Jun Tze- Chair
Dr. Wah Jun Tze is a professor of Pediatrics in the Faculty
of Medicine, University of British Columbia, and director
of the centre for Complementary Medicine Research at
the
B.C. Research Institute for ChildrenÕs and WomenÕs
Health.
He is also the founder and Honorary President of the
Tzu
Chi Institute for Complementary and Alternative Medicine in
Vancouver, British Columbia. He has served on
numerous
editorial boards of scientific and clinical journals, and
recently served as a member of a special panel
for the
promotion of research on complementary and
alternative
medicine at the National Institute of Health (U.S) and the
World Health Organization. Due to his enormous scientific
contributions, he was appointed a member of the Order
of
Canada in 1994.
Mary X. Wu
Mary Wu received her Medical Degree in Traditional Chinese
Medicine (TCM) after five years of full-time formal medical
school training in China. She was a physician and assistant
professor at Shandong University of Chinese Medicine before
coming to Canada. She received her
M.Sc. from the
University of Waterloo and has since been
involved in
scientific research for nearly ten years.
She is the
founder and president of the Toronto School of Traditional
Chinese Medicine. She currently serves as a member of the
Therapeutic Products Programme Expert Advisory Committee on
Complementary Medicines.
Norman R. Farnsworth
Norman R. Farnsworth received a B.S. and M.S. in Pharmacy
from the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and a Ph.D. in
Pharmacognosy from the University of
Pittsburgh. Dr.
Farnsworth is the co-editor of the journal Phytomedicine
and is on the editorial advisory board of the Journal
of
Natural Products, Psychoactive
Drugs, Journal of
Ethnopharmacology, Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Abstracts,
Journal of Holistic Medicine, Social Pharmacology
and
Herbalgram. He is the Director of the Centre for Botanical
Dietary Supplements Research at the University of Illinois
at Chicago, National Institute of Health, the World Health
Organization Collaborating Centre for Traditional Medicine
and the Program for Collaborative
Research in the
Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Illinois
at
Chicago, College of Pharmacy. He is also the primary author
of the forthcoming WHO "Monographs on Major
Medicinal
Plants."
Frank Chandler
Dr. Frank Chandler obtained his B.Sc. (Pharmacy) and his
M.Sc degrees from the University of Alberta, and his PhD
from the University of Sydney, Australia. For over 40
years, he has been actively involved in the study of herbal
remedies. Frank served as President of the Association of
Faculties of Pharmacy of Canada in 1988 and as President of
the Association of Deans of Pharmacy of Canada in 1992. In
1989 Frank was appointed Director of the College of
Pharmacy, Dalhousie University, the position he held at his
retirement in June 1998. He was a member of the former
Drugs Directorate Expert Advisory Committee on Herbal and
Botanical Products for Health Canada's Health Protection
Branch and he was the Chair of the federal Canadian
Advisory Panel on Natural Health Products. He is currently
serving on the Therapeutic Products Programme Expert
Advisory Committee on Complementary Medicines, and is also
providing consulting services in herbal medicine.
Michelle Dept
Dr. Michelle Dept is a licensed pharmacist who completed a
Master's degree in Clinical research and drug development
and a fellowship in neuropharmacology at the University of
North Carolina, and a Ph.D. in pharmacology at the
University of Montreal. Recently, she completed a diploma
in homeopathy. She joined the Faculty of Pharmacy at the
University of Montreal in March 1999, where her
responsibilities include the establishment and
co-ordination of a Study group on Complementary Medicines.
She also serves as a member of the Therapeutic Products
Programme Expert Advisory Committee on Complementary
Medicines.
Chanchal Cabrera
Chanchal Cabrera has been a member of the National
Institute of Medical Herbalists since 1987 and practices as
a medical herbalist and clinical aromatherapist. She has
served two consecutive terms as a council member of the
American Herbalists Guild, with special responsibility for
educational issues. Chanchal is associate editor of Medical
Herbalism newsletter and serves on the board of advisors of
Bastyr University and Dominion Herbal College and the Board
of Directors of Wellsprings Centre for Natural Healing, a
non-profit cancer and AIDS centre. Chanchal is the founder
of a full service herbal dispensary and clinic in
Vancouver, British Columbia and was a member of the federal
Canadian Advisory Panel on Natural Health Products.
Paul Richard Saunders
Paul Richard Saunders serves as an Associate Dean,
Naturopathic Medical Affairs, at the College of
Naturopathic Medicine. He is also chair of Materia Medica
(Botanical and Homeopathic Medicines), Professor of
Clinical Medicine and maintains a private practice near
Toronto, Ontario. In 1998, he received the PresidentÕs
Award from the Canadian Naturopathic Association for his
advancement of naturopathic medicine internationally. He
was appointed in 1996 as a member of the Health Canada
Therapeutic Products Programme Advisory committee on
Management and is a member of the Transition Team for the
Office of Natural Health Products.
J. William LaValley
Dr. J. William LaValley has practised complementary
medicine in Chester, Nova Scotia since 1988. He is the
founder and chairperson of the Complementary Medicine
Section of the Nova Scotia Division of the Canadian Medical
Association, the first such section in North America. He is
the founding President of the Canadian Complementary
Medical Association, and sits on the federal Canadian
Natural Health Products Advisory Panel as well as the
Therapeutic Products Programme Expert Advisory Committee on
Complementary Medicine and most recently on the Transition
Team for the Office of Natural Health Products.
Ron Harris
Ron Harris has dedicated over 50 years to the education and
promotion of homeopathy. Educated in Asia, Europe and North
America, he holds a Doctor of Homeopathy. He is a Gold
Medalist in Homeopathy and has won numerous other awards
for his work. He is founder of the Canadian Institute of
Homeopathic Medicine and has been honoured by both the
federal and provincial governments, and the Chemical
Institute of Canada. Although retired, Mr. Harris continues
to work part-time as a consultant.
Mark T. Goldberg
Dr. Goldberg received a B.Sc from the University of Western
Ontario and a Ph.D.(Pharmacology) from Memorial University.
He did his postdoctoral work in Biochemical and Genetic
Toxicology at the Ontario Cancer Institute in Toronto,
Ontario. He served for five years as the chair of Ontario's
Advisory committee on Environmental Standards (ACES). In
1989, he became a board-certified member of the American
Board of Toxicology. He is one of the only 30
Board-certified toxicologists in Canada. During his career
he has authored over 50 publications in the cancer research
field, including research on the efficacy of natural health
products as anti-carcinogens. He is currently an Associate
Graduate Faculty at the University of Guelph and is also
consulting in the field of toxicology.
Patrick C. Choy
Dr. Choy is currently the Associate Dean of Research in the
Faculty of Medicine, a Professor of Biochemistry and
Medical Genetics and the Director of the Centre for
Research and Treatment of Atherosclerosis, University of
Manitoba. He also has cross-appointment as Professor of
Pathology. He has served on numerous research committees,
both in Canada and internationally. The focus of his
scientific career has been the metabolism of phospholipids
and cholesterol, and the causes of atherosclerosis, a type
of heart disease. One of his research areas includes the
study of the beneficial effect of Vitamin E in the
prevention of heart disease, and the potential uses of
herbal extracts.
Laurie Chan
Dr. Chan received his B.Sc (Biological Sciences) and M. Sc.
(Marine Ecology) from the University of Hong Kong, and his
Ph.D in Marine Biology from the University of London. He is
currently an Associate Professor of Human Nutrition at
McGill University and his work involves both basic and
applied research in environmental toxicology and
nutritional toxicology. One of his areas of study has
involved nutraceuticals, foods with potential health
affects. He has served as a member of Health Canada Food
DirectorateÕs Expert Advisory Committee on Addition of
Vitamins and Minerals to Foods for the last two years.
John Hoffer
Dr. Leonard John Hoffer received both his MD and internal
medicine specialty training at McGill University, followed
by training in nutrition support at Harvard Medical School
and a PhD in clinical nutrition at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, as well as a fellowship in
biochemistry at Brandeis University. He is currently
Professor of Medicine at McGill and a clinician and
researcher in the Jewish General Hospital-Lady Davis
Institute in Montreal, where his research interests are
human protein and vitamin nutrition. Dr. Hoffer has a
long-standing interest in nutritional aspects of
alternative medicine.
Albert Fok
Albert Fok is a Chinese botanist. Through his life-long
involvement in the Traditional Chinese Medicine bulk herb
wholesale business and being the fourth generation in this
trade, he has gathered profound knowledge and experience on
the identification, processing, compounding, usage, and
effects of Traditional Chinese medicinal herbs. He has
served as a member of the federal Canadian Advisory Panel
on Natural Health Products, and most recently on the
Transition Team for the Office of Natural Health Products.