Tieraona Low Dog, M.D.

Biography

Dr. Low Dog's extensive career in studying herbal medicine and its role in modern health care began more than twenty years ago. She was President of the American Herbalist's Guild and ran an herbal school in New Mexico for many years. After extensive experience with botanicals she went on to receive her Doctor of Medicine degree from the New Mexico School of Medicine with an award for Outstanding Senior Medical Student and further training in family medicine. She created the Foundations in Herbal Medicine Course in an attempt to bridge the knowledge gap surrounding botanicals in the United States.

Her many honors of distinction in recognition of her work in herbal medicine include Time magazine's award of Innovator in Complementary and Alternative Medicine 2001. President Clinton appointed Dr. Low Dog to the White House Commission of Complementary and Alternative Medicine to provide legislative and administrative recommendations to the President to ensure that public policy maximizes Americans' benefits of complementary and alternative medicine. As the chair of the United States Pharmacopoeia Dietary Supplements and Botanicals Expert Committee, Dr. Low Dog helps oversee the evaluation of the safety and efficacy of dietary supplements. She currently serves on the Scientific Advisory Board member for National Institutes of Health Center For Complementary and Alternative Medicine Research in Aging and Women's Health and will join the University of Illinois at Chicago/National Institutes of Health Center for Botanical Dietary Supplement Research in Women's Health in August of 2002. She is adjunct faculty through the Department of Medicine at the University of Arizona, where she works with Dr. Andrew Weil's Fellowship Program in Integrative Medicine.

In addition to her research, Dr. Low Dog is the author of Gifts of the Earth: The Healing Way of Herbal Medicine (Herbal Press, 1991) and Tieraona's Herbal: A Guide to Herbal Medicine (self-published, 1985). Her media-related experience includes serving as a senior medical editor for OneBody.com and assistant editor in the continuing development of the Complementary and Alternative Medicine series of Micromedex, reviewing herbal and dietary supplement monographs. She has appeared on E!, ABC's 20/20 and Good Morning TV in London. She is a frequent guest on numerous radio programs in the United States and the United Kingdom, including NPR's The People's Pharmacy.

Dr. Low Dog has published numerous articles on women's health including integrative approaches to pre-menstrual syndrome, menopause and breast cancer. Dr. Low Dog has also co-published on the topic of herb usage amongst Hispanic elders and in 1998, she was a recipient of the Martina de la Cruz Medal for her work with indigenous people and remedies. She is a highly sought-after speaker for medical conferences and community groups on topics ranging from the cultural aspects of alternative medicine to the current scientific information on herbs sold in the United States.