Paul Alan Cox, Ph.D.

Director of the Institute for Ethnomedicine

One of the world’s top ethnobotanists, Dr. Cox specializes in the use of plants by indigenous cultures. During his career, he has published more than 150 scientific articles and three books. Dr. Cox received his M.S. in Ecology at the University of Wales as a Fullbright Fellow. In 1978, Dr. Cox entered Harvard as a Danforth Fellow and National Science Foundation Fellow, and in 1981 he received his Ph.D. in biology. He was later awarded a National Science Foundation Presidential Young Investigator Award by President Ronald Reagan. Currently, Dr. Cox serves as Chairman of the Seacology Foundation, an organization he founded to assist in preserving island rain forests and cultures.

Zoe Diana Draelos, M.D., F.A.A.D.

Dermatologist and Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology

Dr. Draelos is a practicing, board-certified dermatologist and a Fellow of the American Academy of Dermatology with a research interest in cosmetics, toiletries and biologically active skin medications. She is a consulting professor in the Department of Dermatology at Duke University School of Medicine and has a clinical practice in High Point, N.C. She has been a visiting professor at more than 45 medical institutions nationally and internationally. She is the author of nine textbooks, including Cosmetics in Dermatology. Dr. Draelos has contributed chapters to 23 textbooks, written 300 published papers, and currently serves on eight journal editorial boards. In 2006, she received a cosmetics industry lifetime achievement award from Health Beauty America for her research contributions in topical formulations.

Makoto Kuro-o, M.D., Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Pathology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center

Dr. Kuro-o received an M.D. in 1985 from the University of Tokyo, Japan. He completed his residency training at Tokyo Metropolitan Geriatric Hospital in 1988, after which he returned to the University of Tokyo as a clinical fellow in cardiology until 1998. He received a Ph.D. in 1991 from the University of Tokyo, following which he pursued postdoctoral training at the National Institute of Neuroscience in Japan. During his postdoctoral work, he identified the klotho gene—an aging suppressor gene in mammals. In 1998, he became an Assistant Professor of Pathology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. His laboratory  focuses on understanding the molecular mechanism by which the klotho protein suppresses aging.

Lester Packer, Ph.D.

Adjunct Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy, University of Southern California. Distinguished Professor, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of nutritional Sciences, Shanghai, China.

Regarded as the world’s foremost antioxidant research scientist, Dr. Packer received his Ph.D. in  Microbiology and Biochemistry from Yale University and served as a Professor and Senior Researcher at the University of California at Berkeley for 40 years. Most recently, Dr. Packer has established a research laboratory in the Department of Molecular Pharmacology at the University of Southern California to pursue studies related to the molecular, cellular, and physiological aspects of free radical and antioxidant metabolisms in biological systems. Dr. Packer is the recipient of numerous scientific achievement awards and serves on editorial advisory boards for scientific journals related to biochemistry, antioxidant metabolism, and nutrition. Dr. Packer has published over 700 scientific papers and 70 books on every aspect of antioxidants and health, including “The Antioxidant Miracle.

Hildebert Wagner, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus, Institute of Pharmacy at the Ludwig-Maximilians University Center for Pharmaceutical Research, Munich, Germany

Author of Immunmodulatory Agents from Plants (Birkhauser Verlag, Basel, 1999), Dr. Hildebert Wagner has studied Pharmacy since 1950. He is the author of 7 other books including: Plant Drug Analysis (Springer Verlag Heidelber, 1996), and Drugs and Drug Constituents (Wissenschaftliche Verlagsgesellschaft Stuttgart, 1998), as well as authoring over 900 other scientific publications. Dr. Wagner was made a Full Professor of Pharmacognosy in 1965, and later served as Director of the Institute of Pharmaceutical Biology in Munich until 1999. He has been distinguished by many international scientific institutions including the Universities of Ohio, Budapest and Debrecen, Dijon, and Helsinki for his work in Pharmacy. Dr. Wagner sits on advisory/editorial boards for Phytochemistry, the Journal of Ethnopharmacology, the Journal of Natural Products, as well as serving as Editor for the International Journal of Phytomedicine.