Maryland University of Integrative Health’s Herbal Dispensary received a grant in June from Emerson Ecologics to help develop a Good Manufacturing Process (GMP) requirements training program and to support the development of quality assurance programs for new herbalists and small herbal supplement companies.
“The new GMP requirements instituted by the FDA have created a challenging environment for a new generation of smaller to mid-size herbal supplement companies,” said Michael Tims, Ph.D., Academic Director of the herbal programs at MUIH. “This grant will help us develop the capacity to teach GMP requirements to external audiences and create outreach program for smaller herb companies to train them on improving and standardizing their GMP and quality assurance programs.”
The Herbal Dispensary has already begun to implement good manufacturing practices and good laboratory practices (GLP) in an effort to improve quality control and proper identification. Herb quality assessment practices are taught to dispensary interns and students in the Master of Science in Therapeutic Herbalism.
In addition to developing a GMP education program for audiences external to MUIH, the grant will permit MUIH to acquire new equipment. The dispensary plans to expand its microscopy lab, build a small library of reference photographs for herb comparisons, and create a curated herbarium library to build greater capacity in GMP services.
“As MUIH continues to expand its research agenda, grant funding becomes critical to achieving our mission. Receiving a competitive award such as the 2015 Emerson Grant Program speaks to the maturation of our institution and our continued commitment to advancing the field of integrative health,” said James Snow, Assistant Provost for Academic Research at MUIH.
MUIH joined the Michigan Association of Naturopathic Physicians and Natural Doctors International as recipients of Emerson Ecologics’ annual grant program, which awards $25,000 to nonprofit organizations that add value to the integrative medicine community. For more information, view the press release or visit www.emersonecologics.com/grant.