Ed Elder, director, Lenor Zeeh Pharmaceutical Experiment Station, was elected to the compounding Expert Committee of the U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention (USP). Elder is one of 20 scientific and public health experts, representing 22 countries, elected to serve for a five year term.

The USP Expert Committees, each headed by a member of the corresponding Council of Experts, comprise USP’s standards-setting body, responsible for creating and revising standards that appear in USP’s compendia. These are the United States Pharmacopeia–National Formulary (USP–NF), which are legally recognized books of standards for drugs and drug ingredients in the United States; the Food Chemicals Codex (FCC), an internationally accepted compendium for food ingredients; and the Dietary Supplements Compendium (DSC). These standards help ensure the identity, as well as the quality, purity, strength and consistency of a drug, food ingredient, or dietary supplement product or ingredient.

USP’s Council of Experts and Expert Committees are selected every five years through a rigorous evaluation and election process. The 2010–2015 cycle will include a significant effort to modernize written standards where needed—as when methods or technologies have been developed that would strengthen a standard’s value.