The American Herbal Products Association (AHPA) announced the winners of the 2015 AHPA Awards for industry executives and companies who make substantive, positive contributions to the herbal products industry. The awards will be presented at the AHPA Member Meeting and Breakfast on March 5, 2015 at Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim, CA.

The 2015 AHPA Award winners include: Dick Griffin, former owner of Grifcon Enterprises and winner of the AHPA Herbal Hero Award; Tieraona Low Dog, MD, the AHPA Herbal Insight Award; Mount Rose Herbs, the AHPA Herbal Industry Leader Award; and Hank Schultz and Stephen Daniells, winners of the Special AHPA Award for Journalistic Excellence.

[caption id="attachment_6075" align="alignright" width="300"] Dick Griffin[/caption]

"AHPA is pleased to recognize the hard work of these individuals and organizations and greatly appreciates their contributions to the herbal products industry," said AHPA President Michael McGuffin.

A commercial insurance broker with more than 46 years of experience specializing in products liability insurance, Griffin formed the national Products Liability Insurance Program for the U.S. dietary supplement and natural products industry in 1996 and has been credited for "the tremendous benefits that his programs generated for the dietary supplement industry."

Mountain Rose Herbs was awarded the AHPA Herbal Industry Leader Award for taking steps above and beyond normal business practices to advance the herbal products industry. Mountain Rose Herbs revealed the only certified organic tea line on the market packaged with 100 percent post-consumer waste materials including recycled newspaper and compostable plant cellulose. In 2013, the company launched the Free Herbalism Project as an ongoing series of free community events featuring visiting herbalists.

Tieraona Low Dog, MD, was awarded the AHPA Herbal Insight Award in recognition of her efforts to significantly increase and further knowledge and understanding of botanicals and their uses.

[caption id="attachment_6076" align="alignleft" width="209"] Tieraona Low Dog[/caption]

She is an internationally recognized expert in the fields of dietary supplements, herbal medicine, women's health and natural medicine. She has spoken at more than 550 scientific/medical conferences, published 40 peer-reviewed articles, and written 20 chapters for medical textbooks.

Dr. Low Dog's extensive career spans more than 35 years. In addition to her work as a clinician and educator, Dr. Low Dog has been involved in national health policy and regulatory issues for more than a decade. In 2000, she was appointed by President Bill Clinton to serve on the White House Commission of Complementary and Alternative Medicine and she recently completed her three-year term as a member of the Advisory Council for the National Institutes of Health National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM). Dr. Low Dog served as the elected Chair of the United States Pharmacopeia Dietary Supplements and Botanicals Expert Committee from 2000 to 2010. She now serves as the elected Chair of the United States Pharmacopeia Dietary Supplements Admission Evaluation Committee. For more information, visit www.ahpa.org.