Thomas Brendler

Dr. Thomas Brendler is a scientist and consultant with over 30 years of experience in the field of natural product development, registration, and licensing, for medicine, food, and cosmetics. He is an expert in botanical research, product innovation, regulatory affairs, and sourcing of raw materials. He has contributed to the development and implementation of quality standards, herbal pharmacopoeias, and scientific publications for several organizations and agencies, including the Millennium Challenge Corporation, the Centre for Development of Enterprise, and the International Trade Centre.

He is a co-founder and former director of the Association of African Medicinal Plants Standards, a non-profit organization that promotes the sustainable use of African plants. He holds a PhD in Botany from the University of Johannesburg and has published more than 50 papers and books on topics related to ethnobotany, ethnopharmacology, phytotherapy, and natural product regulation.

Dr. Brendler is a member of the editorial boards of several journals, a US Pharmacopoeia expert committee member, and a board member of the International Society for Ethnopharmacology and the American Botanical Council. In 2023, he co-founded the Southern African Botanical Product Association (SABPA). He is also affiliated with Traditional Medicinals, a leading herbal tea company in the US, as Principal Scientist R&D.

Ferdinand Labuschagne

Ferdinand Labuschagne has been in the Medicinal Plant industry for the past 4 years, spending the first couple of years on building the commercial supply side of the Sceletium value chain through the establishment of KarooKanna Cultivation. Ferdinand have spent his  professional career in the Entrepreneurial space spending time in the following industries: Retail, International Forex and Commodity markets, Property development and marketing, mining, sales and marketing.

Ferdinand contributes to SABPA on marketing the association to new members, and represents the association on Natural medicine supply conferences both locally and internationally to help our members’ businesses through accessing new clients both locally and internationally.

Avril Harvey

Avril Harvey started her career as a researcher in a number of small Biotech start-ups (both in the United Kingdom and in South Africa) before her focus shifted to the commercialization of technology using public funds channeled through the Department of Science and Technology Innovation Centers.

As a project manager and management consultant, she has worked on consulting engagements helping multinationals to strategize on growth in Africa, as well as with small, post revenue generating social enterprises to become investment ready. Avril has both a Masters in Molecular Microbiology and a Masters in Business Administration.

Avril has worked at Parceval since 2016 with a focus on grant proposal writing, project management and consulting on supply chains and Nagoya Protocol for clients. She is a founding member of SABPA and is the current Secretary and Treasurer. She brings expertise on the local South African NEMBA and Bioprospecting, Access and Benefit Sharing legislation and processes to the Board of Directors.

Ulrich Feiter

Ulrich Feiter is the founder and CEO of Parceval Pty, based in Wellington near Cape Town, South Africa. 

Born and bred in Germany and with a background in horticulture, Ulrich started Parceval in 1992 in South Africa after having worked at companies like WALA and Weleda in Germany as well as in South Africa. Parceval cultivates and sources botanical raw materials for processing to herbal medicines as well as cosmetic ingredients in their GMP factory, both for local as well as international markets. 

His interest in indigenous plants and biological resources now spans some four decades with much pioneering work in commercialisation. Ulrich has worked in many African countries setting up sustainable supply chains for a variety of global clients in the pharmaceutical, cosmetic and food industry. His work includes taking plants from wild harvesting into cultivation, working with rural communities and high end global pharmaceutical companies alike, compliance to Nagoya Protocol, negotiating innovative benefit sharing agreements and much more. 

Together with like-minded associates, he is a co-founder and first chairperson of SABPA.

Jo Barnes is Professor in Herbal Medicines, in the School of Pharmacy, University of Auckland, New Zealand. Jo graduated with a BPharm(Hons) from the University of Nottingham, registered as a pharmacist in the UK (until 2013), and completed her PhD at the University of London. Jo moved to New Zealand as Associate Professor in the School of Pharmacy, University of Auckland, in 2005, and subsequently registered as a pharmacist in New Zealand. Previously, she has held academic positions at the Centre for Pharmacognosy and Phytotherapy, School of Pharmacy, University of London, UK, and the Department of Complementary Medicine, Postgraduate Medical School, University of Exeter, UK. Jo has a postgraduate professional certificate in pharmacovigilance and pharmacoepidemiology (London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine) and was elected Fellow of the Linnean Society of London (2003) and of the International Society of Pharmacovigilance (2020).

Jo is a herbal-medicine safety signal reviewer for the Uppsala Monitoring Centre, Sweden, which runs the World Health Organisation’s Programme for International Drug Monitoring, and has held various roles in the International Society of Pharmacovigilance (ISoP). Jo has published several books on herbal medicines, most recently an edited book on Pharmacovigilance for Herbal and Traditional Medicines (2022; SpringerNature) and the fourth edition of Fundamentals of Pharmacognosy and Phytotherapy (2023; Elsevier) with former colleagues from the University of London.

Leveraging twenty-eight years of leadership experience, Mirran provides strategic counsel to global brands specializing in holistic healthcare, phytochemistry, and innovation. During her 16-year tenure as the Chief Executive Officer of Dr. Hauschka Skin Care - WALA/North America, Mirran played a pivotal role in establishing the brand as a globally renowned leader in beauty, phyto-supplements, and lifestyle offerings. Dr. Hauschka Skin Care is distinguished for its commitment to biodynamic agriculture and innovative processing techniques. Mirran's current advisory roles focus on guiding health and beauty brands, both established and emerging, in setting robust strategic objectives and orchestrating cohesive interdisciplinary teams spanning formulary development, branding, manufacturing, packaging, supply chain, distribution, digital presence, sales and marketing, public relations, legal compliance, regulatory affairs, and integrated social initiatives. Mirran is a co-founder and partner at Beyondbrands, where she co-leads the Nutrition and Beauty vertical, and also maintains a private consultancy for work that extends beyond the US Market and Consumer Product Goods.

Mirran is deeply passionate about environmental and social causes that enrich the welfare of the planet, flora, and humanity.

Vuyisile Hobololo currently serves as Head: Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) Business Unit at the Technology Innovation Agency - an agency of the Department of Science and Innovation. He is responsible for managing an investment portfolio that enables provision of financial and non-financial support to innovators who are in the trade of developing and commercialising bio-based products that emanate from indigenous knowledge. He manages a portfolio that is spread across the following thematic areas: African traditional medicine (including human and ethno-veterinary medicine), cosmeceuticals, health infusions (including indigenous teas), nutraceuticals, and cannabis and hemp-based innovations.

Vuyisile completed a Master of Science (Entomology) degree at the University of Stellenbosch, and Master of Intellectual Property Law and Management (Centre for International Intellectual Property Studies (CEIPI) at the University of Strasbourg, France.

In addition to the scientific roles he occupied in industry and at the Agricultural Research Council, he also served as Commercialisation Manager within the Innovation Division at the Armaments Corporation of South Africa (Armscor) where he led commercialisation of intellectual property from defence-related technologies. He has held several other similar roles including at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) where was responsible for protection and commercilisation of intellectual property relating to forestry plant varieties. He draws some of his policy development intellectual property management, and commercialisation experience from the role of the Regional Technology Transfer Manager he held at the Eastern Cape Regional Technology Transfer Office where he led concurrently the technology transfer functions of Rhodes University, the University of Fort Hare and the Walter Sisulu University. He also served as Deputy Director: Offices of Technology Transfer at the National Intellectual Property Management Office (NIPMO).

Dr Neil Gower is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Complementary Medicine, at the University of Johannesburg. Dr Gower completed a master’s degree in homeopathy (MTech Hom) in 2004 and registered as a homeopathic practitioner with the Allied Health Professions Council of South Africa (AHPCSA). He has completed Post-Graduate Certificates in Medicine and Law (with distinction), Legislative Drafting (cum laude) and Project Management (cum laude). He is a member of the Research Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Johannesburg, and has supervised more than 40 master’s degrees and is completing a Doctoral degree in Public Health with the University of South Africa developing a model for integration of Complementary Medicine as part of Universal Health Coverage.

He was appointed by the Minister of Health as a Council member of the Medicines Control Council of South Africa (MCC) (2015-2018) and, since its transition to the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) in 2019, continues to be a member of its advisory committees, including as: Chairperson of the Complementary Medicines Committee (CMC), member of the Legal Committee (LC), Good Practices Compliance Committee (GXPCC) and Regulatory Advisory Committee (RAC) and various working groups such as the African Traditional Medicines Working Group, General Regulations Working Group, Marketing Code Working Group, Cannabis Working Group and the SAHPRA Bill Working Group. Neil is also a member of the steering group of the International Regulatory Cooperative for Herbal Medicines (IRCH), a network of the World Health Organization (WHO).

Born in 1969, Pretoria South Africa. Completed a BSc, BSc Hons. (cum laude) and MSc (cum laude) in Botany at Stellenbosch University. In 1994 Alvaro commenced with a PhD at the University of Johannesburg on the chemotaxonomy of the genus Aloe. In July 2005 he was appointed as a research fellow in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Tshwane University of Technology (Pretoria). More than eighty post-graduate students have graduated under his supervision since 2002. His research interest is the phytochemistry and biological activity of medicinal and aromatic plants indigenous to South Africa. He has authored / co-authored >300 peer reviewed papers mostly on the phytochemical exploration and biological activity of indigenous medicinal and aromatic plants.

He has been elected on to the editorial board of the Journal of Essential Oil Research (Francis & Taylor), Phytochemistry Letters (Elsevier) and he is the Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Ethnopharmacology (Elsevier). In October 2013 Alvaro was awarded the National Research Chair in Phytomedicine a position which he holds concurrently as Director of the SAMRC Herbal Drugs Research Unit in South Africa.

Cris Amarillas, Ph.D., is the Chief Science Officer, Botanicals at Eurofins US Food & Feed. She serves as the scientific botanical resource, providing technical direction across food chemistry testing and quality ensuring continued ISO 17025 compliance. She actively participates in developing methods, trouble shooting and mentoring scientists. She is a co-chair for AOAC's Botanical Ingredient and Dietary Supplement Integrity (BIDSI) Program for their upcoming botanical identity working group. Before joining Eurofins, Dr. Amarillas spent a year consulting for dietary supplements, drugs/OTC, cosmetics, and food brands and vendors. Prior to that, she worked for 12 years with Traditional Medicinals in Quality and R&D. 

She oversaw daily testing and disposition of components and finished products, while providing technical and herbal direction. She led and participated in stages of product development from formulation through commercialization. She established the Supplier Quality team. She worked closely with regulatory, marketing and procurement. Dr. Amarillas holds her Ph.D. in Chemistry from Stanford University. She is a clinical herbalist, completing two certificate programs at the California School of Herbal Studies (CSHS) in Northern California. Cris brings her passion about herbalism, botanical chemistry, regulatory frameworks, and industry applications to all aspects of her professional life. She continues to teach at CSHS.

Josh Schneider studied horticulture and business at the University of Illinois.  In 2001 he began a job at a large ornamental young plant nursery in San Diego. While there he developed an international network of more than 75 independent plant breeders and assisted them in germplasm acquisition, breeding program development, tissue culture, clean stock development, patent and trademark applications, comprehensive trial programs and global distribution.    

In 2007 Josh founded Cultivaris North America with two partners as a product and idea development consultancy.  Cultivaris managed the development and launch of many top new ornamental plants.  The flagship product was the introduction of the Wollemi Pine in North America.  Wollemia nobilis is a prehistoric conifer thought to have become extinct 100 million years ago.  Working in partnership with the Australian government and the National Geographic Society® in the US, the tree was commercialized and sold to raise money for conservation efforts to preserve the last remaining native stand. 

 Josh and his team developed the first technology for propagating traditional Polynesian Breadfruit trees (Artocarpus altilis) using tissue culture.  A novel agreement between Cultivaris and the Breadfruit Institute at the National Tropical Botanical Garden created a revenue sharing model from the sale of each tree.  Proceeds from the benefit-sharing revenue were split equally between the Breadfruit Institute and the country of each variety’s origin (Fiji, Samoa, Hawaii).   Since 2007 Josh and his team’s work planting 400,000+ breadfruit trees in the tropics is currently providing food for communities across Africa and the Caribbean with an acre of breadfruit producing the equivalent of 40 acres of cereal grain.    

In 2019 Josh founded Cultivaris Hemp to supply high-quality hemp young plants to farmers around the US. As a thought leader in hemp policy and regulatory structure, Josh has been closely involved in advocacy, education and policy development for the emerging US hemp industry. Recently Josh’s policy framework for a new federal hemp licensing structure has been incorporated into both the US House and Senate Farm Bill drafts for regulating hemp cultivation.

Josh has also been involved in the pharmaceutical and wellness markets as a consultant and advisor on medicinal plant supply chain development, cultivation systems and conservation efforts.  He is currently developing systems of invitro propagation for endangered plants used as ingredients in dietary supplements with a goal of eliminating pressure on shrinking wild populations and providing cultivation opportunities for underserved populations.

Dr. Paula N. Brown, is the Director of Applied Research for Natural Health & Food Products at the BC Institute of Technology and holds a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Phytoanalytics. She received her MSc in Natural Product Synthesis from Simon Fraser University and PhD in Plant Chemistry from the University of British Columbia. 

An internationally recognized expert in methods of analysis and natural products chemistry, Dr. Brown is a Fellow of AOAC International and serves as has an advisor to the American Botanical Council and United States Pharmacopoeia.  Dr. Brown is the 2024 recipient of the Varro E. Tyler Award from the American Society for Pharmacognosy and 2022 recipient of the AOAC International Harvey W. Wiley Award. She has received the Norman Farnsworth Award (ABC, 2021) for Excellence in Botanical Research, the Water’s Award for Innovations in Natural Product Research (ASP 2019),  Herbal Insight Award (AHPA 2017), and Neil Towers Award (NHPRS, 2017). She has served as an advisor to Health Canada as a member of the NHP Program Advisory Committee,  the Self-care Task Force and most recently as Co-Chair of the Science Advisory Committee for Health Products containing Cannabis.

Joerg Gruenwald, PhD, is Founder and CEO of Phytopharm Consulting GmbH in Berlin, Germany, a consulting company for natural health products, phytomedicines,  functional foods, dietary supplements etc. He is also the Founder of Analyze & Realize GmbH and has authored and edited 13 books, including Physician's Desk Reference (PDR) for Herbal Medicines, Plant-Based Ingredients for Functional Foods, Grüne Apotheke and acted as a co-editor of the American Botanical Council’s The Complete German Commission E Monographs, as well as over 300 scientific articles.

He serves as Expert Committee Member of the United States Pharmacopoeia (USP) Committee on Botanical Dietary Supplements and Herbal Medicines from 2015-2020 and as Vice Chair of their  Admission Evaluation Joint Subcommittee. He is Board Member of the American Botanical Council (ABC) and editor and editorial board member of 7 scientific journals, e.g. „Phytomedicine“. He has worked as advisor to the Office of Dietary Supplements at the U.S. National Institutes of Health, was Chairman of the American Herbal Products Association’s International Committee and member of the Council for Responsible Nutrition’s Botanical/Quality Standards Committee. He regularly serves as Chairman and speaker at international conferences like Vitafoods, Health Ingredients, Food Ingredients etc.

Prof Marietjie Stander is the Unit Manager of the Mass spectrometry Unit at the Central Analytical Facility of Stellenbosch University.  She obtained her MSc at Stellenbosch University and PhD at North West University.  After Post doctoral studies and 6 years in industry she settled in her role at Stellenbosch University.  Her research interests are natural product chemistry, mass spectrometry, quality control and analysis of botanical products (including Sceletium), analysis of food and beverages for adulterants and food fraud. 

She is a director of Scistaff, a recruitment agency that started off as a hobby to help Science students find jobs. She is a member of SABPA in her capacity at Varsfontein, a family business in the Klein Karoo farming with olives and Sceletium. She is in charge of special projects at SABPA.

Suzette Trevor currently holds the position of Lead Buyer at Dohler South Africa for the Botanical Extract Business Unit in Paarl.  Döhler is a global producer, marketer and provider of technology-driven natural ingredients, ingredient systems and integrated solutions for the food and beverage industry.

Apart from her Human Resource qualification she obtained a diploma in Supply chain management through UNISA as well as a CIPS qualification. With over 25yrs of Supply Chain experience – in various industries - the last 6 yrs has been focused on Sourcing all raw material for the BU, Sales (internal and external) , the management of stock and production planning. Her main skill set includes collaborating with suppliers, negotiating, assessing company procurement needs and sourcing (local and globally) according to seasonal harvests.