Longwood Herbal Task Force: About the Longwood Herbal Task Force

About the
Longwood Herbal Task Force

History | Development Process | Active and Contributing Members

History

The LHTF was organized in the fall of 1998 by faculty, staff and students from Children’s Hospital, the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences and the Dana Farber Cancer Institute to learn more about and teach other clinicians about herbs and dietary supplements.

Because oncology patients appeared to be the most frequent users of herbs/dietary supplements, the group began with systematic reviews of the six most common supplements used by oncology patients. Work rapidly expanded to include approximately 85 herbs and dietary supplements.

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Development Proces

The compilation process includes:

Searches of seven (7) databases (MEDLINE, Embase, Biosis, International Pharmacy Abstracts, Napralert, Micromedex and AltHealth Watch).
Review of over 30 different books on herbal medicines, focusing primarily on those that cite original research.
Writing a monograph using a standardized process review of the monograph by all members of the Task Force.
Monograph revision.
Final review by Dr. Kemper (Chair of the LHTF).
Composing a summary for clinicians (Clinician Information Summaries).
Composing a summary for patients (Patient Fact Sheets).

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Active and Contributing Members

Physicians

Kathi J. Kemper, MD, MPH; Chair of Task Force
Paula Gardiner, MD
Judy Shabert, MD, MPH, RD
Alan Woolf, MD, MPH

Pharmacists

Lana Dvorkin, PharmD.
June Riedlinger, PharmD.

Nurse Practitioners & Clinical Nurse Specialists

Larraine Bossi, RN, MS
Jane Murphy, RN, MS, CPNP

Nurses

Andey Amata-Kynvi, RN, BSN
Mary McLellan, RN, BSN

Acupuncturists

Ellen Highfield, LicAc

Librarian

Julie Whelan, MS

Graduate and Professional Students

Victoria Chiou
Candyce Collins, PharmD
Catherine Chu
Sara Goldhaber-Fiebert
Nikki Gordon
Anjali Kaimal
Margaret Loeper, MS
Sachita Shah

Website

Lisa Amata-Kynvi
Emily Cook