Thomas started working with Traditional Medicinals in 2008, and in 2016 he became Principal Scientist in our Research and Development Department where his work focuses on medicinal plant research, product development, efficacy, safety, regulatory compliance, and claim substantiation. His primary consulting business, PlantaPhile®, has bases in the US and Europe, which focuses on all aspects of herbal product development, registration and licensing.
For over 25 years he has developed and managed projects on the use of plants in medicine, food and cosmetics. Thomas has been involved in the preparation, management and execution of various public funded research projects for the Millennium Challenge Corporation, the Centre for Development of Enterprise and the International Trade Centre. He co-founded the Association of African Medicinal Plants Standards in 2005 and served as one of its directors until 2018. Additionally, he is the editor-in-chief of the AAMPS African Herbal Pharmacopoeia and author of Herb-CD®, a digital encyclopedia of medicinal plants. Furthermore, Thomas has co-authored, edited and contributed to a wide range of publications on phytotherapy and regulations in the natural products industry, most notably Physician’s Desk Reference for Herbal Medicines, Medicinal and Aromatic Plants of Indian Ocean Islands, A Practical Guide To Licensing Herbal Medicinal Products, along with the translation into English of The Complete German Commission E Monographs on medicinal plants.
Beyond his work at Traditional Medicinals and as a published author, Thomas also serves as a member of the editorial boards of Phytotherapy Research and Journal of Ethnopharmacology, the advisory board for the American Botanical Council, consulting editor for HerbClips, member of the Botanical Dietary Supplements & Herbal Medicines Expert Committee of the United States Pharmacopeial Convention, and is a regular peer reviewer for a variety of scientific journals. In 2009 he spent a year as a visiting scholar at Rutgers University, Department of Plant Biology and Pathology within the Natural Product Research Group. Additionally, he is affiliated with the Department of Botany and Plant Biotechnology at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa.
When Thomas isn’t working as an author, collaborator, or colleague, he enjoys collecting (and reading) antique books and modern first editions, listening to all kinds of music, enjoying the arts, and tending to a garden full of useful plants and vegetables. During the garden’s dormant months, he travels extensively (lately with focus on Southern Africa, where he studies the fynbos flora while hiking Table Mountain), enjoys eating and drinking local plant-based products. From time to time, you might find him escaping into Namibia’s moon landscape for a day without plants altogether.