Candy Tsourounis, PharmD, UCSF School of Pharmacy clinical faculty member and expert on integrative and complementary therapies, was chosen to participate in an international practicum on dietary supplement research. The June 1-5, 2009 course was attended by 80 university faculty members and graduate students and held in Bethesda, Maryland.

Reprint June 5, 2009
National Institutes of Health
Office of Dietary Supplements

University of California, San Francisco Clinical Pharmacy Professor Participates in NIH Dietary Supplement Research Practicum 2009

Candy Tsourounis, PharmD, professor in the University of California, San Francisco Department of Clinical Pharmacy, joined more than 80 other professors and graduate students from universities throughout the U.S. and around the world to participate in the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS) course, "Dietary Supplement Research Practicum 2009." The Practicum was held on the NIH campus in Bethesda, Maryland, June 1-5, 2009.

ODS offers this annual intensive course to provide essential knowledge of dietary supplements to academic faculty and their doctoral or post-doctoral students with a serious interest in this subject. Experts from NIH, academic institutions, and Federal regulatory agencies such as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) served as speakers.

The ODS practicum provides a thorough overview of issues, concepts, unknowns, and controversies about dietary supplements and supplement ingredients. It also emphasizes the importance of scientific investigations to evaluate the efficacy, safety, and value of these products for health promotion and disease prevention and treatment, as well as how to carry out this type of research.

On Wednesday, June 3rd, participants spent the day in Washington, D.C., to meet with representatives from the U.S. Congress, the dietary supplement industry, media, and consumer advocacy groups that study, advocate, regulate, or educate about dietary supplements.