Invited speaker for the University of Texas Psychiatric Pharmacy Update on the Role of Complimentary Medicine in the Treatment of Psychiatric Disorders, Austin, Texas, October 19-20, 2007

Invited speaker for the Department of Pediatrics of New York University School of Medicine, Pediatric Grand Rounds Lecture on  “Omega-3 fatty acids in Children”, New York, NY, January 23, 2007.

Invited speaker on: “Use of Botanicals in Adult Population” and “Update of Botanicals in Women’s Health” at the 31st National Primary Care Nurse Practitioner Symposium July 13-16, 2006, Keystone Resort, Keystone, Colorado.

Invited speaker on: “Omega-3 and Children” at the Integrative Medicine and Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics conference, Beth Israel Medical Center, May 31, New York, NY.

Adjunct Faculty for “Drug Interactions and Natural Medications” for the Harvard CME Home Study Audio Course (March 15, 2006 - March 15, 2009) on “Natural Remedies for Psychiatric Disorders: Considering the Alternatives”

Invited speaker on: “Botanical Medicines, Mood & Memory: What is the Real Story?” at the 15th Annual Meeting of the Society of Biomedical Research November 1-4, 2005, Marriott Hotel at Washingtonian, Gaithersburg, Maryland.

Workshop leader on essential fatty acids for psychiatric disorders for the Southwest Washington Association of Behavioral Health, October 15, 2005, Olympia Washington.

Adjunct Faculty for “Drug Interactions and Natural Medications” for the Harvard CME course on “Natural Remedies for Psychiatric Disorders: Considering the Alternatives” June 24-26, 2005, Westin Hotel, Copley Place, sponsored by the Harvard Dept of Continuing Education and the Massachusetts General Hospital Dept of Psychiatry, Boston, Massachusetts.

Faculty for the  Third Annual Clinical Psychopharmacology Institute in Cambridge Massachusetts sponsored by the American Psychiatric Nurses Association. June 23-25, 2005, on “Essential Fatty Acids and Psychiatric Disorders.”

Faculty, Columbia University, 10th Annual Course in “Botanical Medicine in Modern Clinical Practice” June 6-9, 2005, New York, NY: “Herbs and Essential Fatty Acids for Mental Health”

Invited speaker for Fifth UNC Integrative Medicine Conference on “Herb-drug Interactions” and “Omega-3 and Mental Health”, March 18-19, 2005, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Invited speaker at for the Orthodox Jewish Mental Health Organization annual meeting on December 2004 on herbal treatments and dietary supplements for treatment of mental disorders.  Marriot Hunt Valley Inn, Baltimore, Maryland.

Invited speaker on “Herb-Drug Interactions” at Advances in Psychiatry CME conference, November 11, 2004, University of Michigan Medical Center, Ann Arbor, MI.

Invited speaker on “Herb-Drug Interactions” and “Herbal and Nutritional Treatment for Mental Disorders” at the American Herbalists Guild Symposium, Waterville Valley, NH, October 8-10, 2004.

Faculty, Columbia University, 9th Annual Course in “Botanical Medicine in Modern Clinical Practice” June 7-10, 2004, New York, NY: “Cognition, Depression, and Anxiety”

Invited speaker on “Omega-3, Essential Fatty Acids, and Psychiatric Disorders” at the 157th Annual Meeting of the American Psychiatric Association, May 2-6, 2004, New York, NY.

Editorial Board, Journal of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine, 2004.

Invited speaker on "Dietary Supplements in the Management of Mental Disorders" for Behavioral Health Services at Winchester Medical Center, Winchester, Virginia, November 14, 2003.

Invited speaker at Johns Hopkins University Dept. of Psychiatry November 11, 2003 on: Adjunct treatments in psychiatry: "The promise and problems of essential fatty acids, St. Johns Wort, and other botanicals."

Invited speaker at the 12th Functional Foods for Health Annual Conference, Chicago, IL, July 9-11, 2003. Title: "Dietary Supplements and Natural Products as Psychotherapeutic Agents."  Program

Guest Faculty, Columbia University, 8th Annual Course in “Botanical Medicine in Modern Clinical Practice” June 9-13, 2003, New York, NY.

Speaker for Continuing Medical Education course on Alternative Treatments for Psychiatric Disorders, sponsored by the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, April 25-27, 2003. Program

Speaker, Nutracon, Anahein, CA March 6-7, 2003.  Nutracon Link

Panelist for 23rd Annual American College of Toxicology meeting, Hershey, PA, November 10-13, 2002: “The Great Debate! Are Dietary Supplements Safe as Currently Regulated?”  Program Link

Guest Faculty, Columbia University, 7th Annual Course in "Botanical Medicine in Modern Clinical Practice" May 20-24, 2002, New York, NY. Program

Speaker for Grand Rounds, University of Louisville, Dept of Psychiatry, on: "Dietary supplement adjuncts for Mental Disorders" March 7, 2002.

Member, Board of Advisors, The Healthy Foundation / Vitamin Relief USA, January, 2002.

Speaker for Grand Rounds, University of Iowa, Dept of Psychiatry, on: "Dietary supplements in the Management of Mental Disorders" November 5-6, 2001.

Member, Scientific Advisory Board of the Dietary Supplement Education Alliance (DSEA)

Invited speaker for the National Nutritional Foods Association Convention, Las Vegas, Nevada, June 6-9, 2001.

Member, Special Emphasis Review Panel on Herb-Drug Interactions for the NIH National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, May 23-25, 2001.

Invited speaker for the Drug Information Association workshop: "Self Medication with Botanicals" May 15, 2001, Washington D.C.

Member, CRN/ABC Expert Panel for the Safety and Benefit of Botanicals, Annapolis, Maryland, April 22-24.

Invited speaker for CME conference at the University of Iowa: Women’s Mental Health Through the Life Cycle: Mood, Food and Sex on "Complementary & Alternative Therapies in Mental Health" Iowa City, March 29-31, 2001.

Consultant for article in Patient Care magazine Oct. 15, 2000, on: "Drug-herb interactions: How vigilant should you be?"

Invited speaker for the CME Clinical Update "Complementary & Alternative Medicine: What Your Patients are Asking" at Prince William Health System, Manassas, Virginia Oct. 28, 2000.

Member, NIH Special Emphasis Review Committee for the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, July 2000.

Invited speaker for the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI) annual meeting June 15, 2000, in San Diego, CA on "Integrative Psychiatry."

Consultant for HerbMed® database May-June, 2000.

Appointed to the Editorial Board for the Journal of Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Aug., 2000.

Member, Board of Trustees of the New Hope Foundation, March, 2000.

Appointed Scientific Advisor to the Institute of Mental Health Research at the Royal Ottawa Hospital, January, 2000.

Nominated for the Botanical Advisory Panel of the 2000-2005 Committee of Revision of the US Pharmacopoeia.

Invited speaker for conference at the University of Iowa: Complementary and Alternative Medicine an Evidence-based Approach, on "Dietary supplements and natural products as psychotherapeutic agent" Iowa City, May 18-20, 2000.

Invited speaker for Grand Rounds, University of Florida, Dept Psychiatry, Gainesville, February 24, 2000 on "Integrative Psychiatry."

Scientific Review Administrator to the Neuroscience and Behavioral Science Review Branch, Division of Extramural Activities, NIMH (9/99-6/00).

Invited speaker for the College of Psychiatric and Neurologic Pharmacists (CPNP) annual meeting April 6-8, 2000, in Bethesda Maryland on "Herbal Research Update"

Guest speaker for the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI) of Northern Virginia February 28, 2000 on "Integrative Psychiatry."

Interviewed by former NIMH Director, Dr. Fred Goodwin, for the NPR series "The Infinite Mind" on the subject of Complementary Medicine in Psychiatry. First aired 1/19/00

Plenary speaker at the Orthodox Jewish Mental Health Organization annual meeting in Baltimore on 12/99 on herbal treatments and dietary supplements in mental health.

Serve as Expert Consultant on complementary & alternative medicine for the Psychopharmacology Committee of the Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry (GAP) White Plains, NY.

Invited speaker for the International Conference on Ethnomedicine and Drug Discovery: Search for new traditional remedies. November 3-5, 1999, Silver Spring, Maryland.

Interviewed on Maryland Public Television, "Herbal medicine...how safe is it?" November, 1999.

Invited speaker on complementary and alternative medicine at the New England Regional Conference on Women’s Mental Health, Sept. 27-28, 1999, Farmington, CT.

Chaired Panel at June 1999 New Clinical Drug Evaluation Unit 39^th annual meeting in Boca Raton, FL on "STEP-BD: Systematic Treatment Enhancement Program for Bipolar Disorder"

Invited speaker for the annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association to present: "Botanical extracts as anxiolytic treatments or adjuncts" Washington D.C. May 1999

Invited speaker for American Society of Pharmacognosy Meeting in Tunica, Mississippi, 4/29-5/1/99 on "Clinical Studies and Regulatory Issues of Botanical Dietary Supplements"

Invited speaker for Psychiatric Society of Westchester on alternative treatments in psychiatry April 28, 1999

Book reviewer for the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, and Phytomedicine.

Regular Reviewer for Journal of Ethnopharmacology; Psychiatric Services; Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology; Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine; Phytomedicine; and HerbalGram. Ad hoc reviewer for: Journal of Clinical Psychiatry; Journal of the American Medical Association; Biological Psychiatry; Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research;Consultant: Consultations in Primary Care; and Immunopharmacology.

Invited speaker for Lehigh Valley PA Psychiatric Assoc. on alternative treatments in psychiatry, April 22, 1999

External reviewer for FDA Office of Women’s Health for 1999 Intramural Funding Program

Panel Chair and speaker for (FDA/NIH organized) Fifth DIA-Sponsored Workshop on Botanicals: Pharmacoeconomics of Botanicals and the Public Health. March, 1999, Washington D.C.

Invited speaker for the annual meeting of the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics on: "Potential psychotherapeutic medication from plants" April 20 1999, Washington D.C.

Ninety-day work detail to the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, March-June, 1999. Organized the first Data Safety Monitoring Board for the Center.

Research on Omega-3 PUFA’s featured in Psychiatric Times: "Dietary Fatty Acids Essential for Mental Health" Dec. 1998, pp 22-23 (2nd link)

Keynote speaker for Symposium: "Psychiatry and Alternative Medicine: Building Bridges" November 13-14, 1998, Dept. of Psychiatry, University of Ottawa, Canada

Member, Planning Committee, NIH Conference: Zinc: What role might supplements play? November, 1998.

Invited speaker for the XV Symposium on Brazilian Medicinal Plants on potential psychotherapeutic benefits of botanicals, October 13-18, 1998, Aguas de Lindoia, Brazil

Invited speaker for the Council for Responsible Nutrition in Charleston S.C., October 5, 1998, on potential benefits of botanicals

Conceived and initiated the September, 1998 NIH international workshop on "Omega-3 Essential Fatty Acids and Psychiatric Disorders" See links Link 1, Link 2

Research featured in Psychiatric Times: "Herbal medicine in psychiatry considered at APA" August, 1998.

Advisor for non-traditional treatments for the Maryland State task force on ADD.

Member, NIH committee for A Strategic Plan for the Office of Dietary Supplements, July, 1998.  

Botanical medicine research featured in Clinical Psychiatry News, June, 1998 entitled: "Herbal remedies may be useful anxiolytics"

Botanical medicine research featured in Internal Medicine News June 15, 1998 entitled: "Some herbal remedies may be useful anxiolytics"

Research featured in Psychiatric Times: "St. John’s wort in NIH antidepressant trial" Feb. 1998, pp 36-37

Member, protocol development committee for the Stanley Foundation Research Programs, 1998

Invited speaker for the annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association to present: "Antidepressant activity of St. John’s wort," Toronto Canada, June 1998

Invited speaker for the International Life Science’s Institute’s Food, Nutrition and Safety Committee, on the therapeutic potential and safety considerations of botanical products. May 27, 1998, Washington D.C.

Invited speaker, annual meeting of the Amer Soc for Pharmacol Experimental Therapeutics on: "Pharmacologic actions of St. John’s wort, Hypericum perforatum." Apr 18-22, 1998, San Francisco, CA

Invited speaker for the Anxiety Disorders Association of America Meeting on: "Botanical Formulations as Potential Anxiolytic Agents: A Review", March 27-29, 1998, Boston, MA

Invited speaker for NIH STEP program (Staff Program in Extramural Programs): "Can you buy health over the counter" January, 1998

Initiated and planned Panel discussion on the use of Calcium Channel Antagonists in Mental Disorders at 1998 NCDEU, Boca Raton, Florida

NIMH representative on the National Institute on Aging’s Alzheimer’s Disease Working Group

Member, Planning Committee of the NIH Consensus Development Conference on Acupuncture, Nov. 3-5, 1997

Invited speaker at University of Wisconsin’s Fall 1997 Psychiatric Update to present: "Psychophytopharmacology: facts and fallacies about botanical medicine," Madison, WI, October, 1997

Invited speaker at FDA/NIH sponsored Workshop on "Clinical Testing of Botanicals" November, 1997

Invited discussant for American Psychiatric Association Symposium: "PCP Model of Schizophrenia: From Theory to Practice" San Diego, May 17-22, 1997

Invited speaker for Healthmap Expo, Madison Square Garden, New York City, May 2-4, 1997

Invited speaker at Columbia University Center for the Study of Alternative Medicine April 30, 1997

Keynote speaker for the Symposium: "Psychiatry and Alternative Medicine: Building Bridges" November 1-2, 1996, Clarke Institute of Psychiatry, Toronto, Canada

Invited speaker at the 2nd International Congress on Phytomedicine, September 11-14, 1996, Munich, Germany on "In Vitro Receptor Binding and Enzyme Inhibition by Hypericum perforatum."

Organized and co-chaired a symposium at the 1996 American Psychiatric Association Annual meeting in New York, entitled: "Simple Molecules for Complex Disorders."

Organized and co-chaired the plenary session of the 1996 NCDEU meeting entitled: "New Strategies for the Development of Psychotherapeutics"

NIMH representative for the NIDA/OMAR-sponsored Consensus Development Conference on Opiate Agonist Treatment, 1997. JAMA summary 

Named to Advisory Board of the American Botanical Council (1996)

Member, NIMH delegation to India for "Indo-US Workshop on Traditional Medicine and Psychiatric Disorders", Bangalore, India, October 9-18, 1996.

Member, WHO International Advisory Committee for the Division of Mental Health and Prevention of Substance Abuse of the WHO Unit on Neurosciences, for the Collaborative Study of the "Early Diagnosis, Prevention and Treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease."

Drug development program featured in Psychiatric Times, October, 1996 special report, p 58: "St-John’s Wort Evaluated as Herbal Antidepressant"

Botanical Medicine research program featured in Psychology Today, July/August 1996

Drug development program featured in Clinical Psychiatry News editorial, December 1995, pp 15: "Mental Health Researchers Explore Hindu Herbs"

Interviewed on botanical medicine research for PBS series: ‘The Doctor Is In"

Drug development program featured in Psychiatric Times, April, 1995 editorial, pp 19-20: "Pharmacognosy Grafts to Psychopharmacology"

NCDEU talk featured in Internal Medicine News, July 15, 1995 editorial: "Interest in Botanical Brain Drugs Grows"

Associate Editor, Psychopharmacology Bulletin (1995)

Member, Planning Committee for NCDEU (New Clinical Drug Evaluation Unit) Annual Meetings 1992-1998.

NIMH representative for the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements Research and the NIH Office of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 1995 - 1998.

NIMH representative to the Council on Alternative and Complementary Therapies (1995)

Invited speaker at a December 1995 symposium sponsored by the National Library of Medicine. Presented "NIMH research on Indian traditional medicine"

Invited speaker at "Medicinal Plants and Natural Products" September 11-12, 1995, Washington D.C. on: "NIMH Natural Products Research Program"

Invited speaker First Annual International Congress on Alternative & Complementary Medicine, May, 1995, Arlington, Virginia: "NIMH Natural Products Screening Program"

Invited speaker at the May 1995 NCDEU meeting in Orlando Florida "Natural product formulations available in Europe for psychotropic indications"

Initiated and organized the 1994 NCDEU Panel: "Medicinal Plants and Dietary Supplements: Sources for Innovative Treatments or Adjuncts?" and arranged for their publication in Psychopharmacology Bulletin 31(1), 1995: Duke (commentary); Benjamin (inositol); Lohr (antioxidants); Itil (ginkgo);  Chung (Korean plants);  Cott (medicinal plants and supplements)

Invited speaker at the 1994 C.I.N.P. (International College of Neuropsychopharmacology) symposium in Washington D.C. "New Drug Developments from Herbal Medicines in Neuropsychopharmacology"

Invited speaker at the American Herbalists Guild 5th Annual Symposium, Capon Bridge, WV 8/94 on: "Integrating Herbal Health Care and Science"

Invited speaker at Grand Rounds, Mass Gen Hosp, Harvard Medical School, 5/93 on "The NIMH Psychotherapeutic Drug Development Program"

Member, NIMH Delegation to Indo-US Symposium titled "Mental Health and Neurosciences in the Decade of the Brain" presented paper on "Medicinal plants: A potential source for new psychotherapeutic drugs", Bangalore, India, February 7-13, 1993.

Organized the first NIMH workshop on natural products research entitled "The Potential for Deriving New Psychotherapeutic Medications from Natural Products," in April, 1992.