2011-09-14
Norman R. Farnsworth, Renowned Medicinal Plant
Researcher, Died at 81
It is with great sorrow to inform you that the renowned
pharmacognosist and internationally respected medicinal
plant research expert, Professor Norman R. Farnsworth,
passed away on September 10, at the age of 81. We are all
devastated by this loss. The Society will keep commemoration
and expresses its sincere condolence.
Respectfully,
Brigitte Kopp
 Dr. Farnsworth was born on
March 23, 1930 in Massachusetts. He
received his degree in pharmacy from the Massachusetts
College of Pharmacy in 1953 and his PhD in pharmacognosy,
the study of drugs from natural origins (including medicinal
plants, microbes, marine organisms, and fungi), from the
University of Pittsburgh in 1959. In 1970, Prof. Farnsworth
left the University of Pittsburgh for a position at the
College of Pharmacy, University of Illinois at Chicago
(UIC). He served as Head of the Department of Pharmacognosy
and Pharmacology from 1970-1982. At UIC, he was also
Research Professor of Pharmacognosy, Director of the
Pharmacognosy Graduate Program, and Director of the World
Health Organization Program for Collaborative Research in
the Pharmaceutical Sciences . This multidisciplinary program
brought together, for the first time, scientists in numerous
fields of medicinal plant research to collaborate on
plant-based drug discovery. In 1988, he was named Senior
University Scholar at UIC. He held the title of
Distinguished Professor of Pharmacognosy, which he received
for his "scholarship, creativity and leadership" from 2001
until his death. As head of the pharmacognosy graduate
program at UIC, he had mentored more than 100 PhD and 30 MS
students.
Professor Farnsworth was an
internationally-recognized scholar and initiator or
co-initiator of many significant projects in the fields of
pharmacognosy and medicinal plant research. Among other
accomplishments, he was a founding member of the American
Society of Pharmacognosy (ASP) in 1959, and a founding
member of the Society for Economic Botany (1959).
The author or co-author of
hundreds of research papers published in peer-reviewed
journals, Prof. Farnsworth co-founded the peer-reviewed
journal Phytomedicine, the International Journal of
Phytotherapy and Phytopharmacology, along with Professor
Hildebert Wagner. Professor Farnsworth was the recipient of
numerous awards and honorary degrees from around the world.
http://abc.herbalgram.org/site/MessageViewer?em_id=15161.0&dlv_id=45726
2011-07-27
Special Issue of Planta Medica – Selected Contributions
from the GA Annual Congress, Berlin 2010
The second Special Issue in 2010 of our journal Planta
Medica has been published. It assembles selected
contributions from the 58th Annual Congress of GA, Berlin
2010, and of the 7th Tannin Conference which was held as a
Pre-Symposium of the GA Congress.
The contributions address three main topics: polyphenols and
their interactions with biomolecules, ethnomedicine and
bioactive natural products, biodiversity and benefit sharing.
The Special Issue was edited by Herbert Koledziej and Ann
Elisabeth Hagermann.
Planta Medica publishes two Special Issues per year. They
address overarching topics in natural product research and
provide a concise and to-the-point overview written by
experts in the field.
Recent Special Issues were: Tropical Diseases (6/2011),
Traditional Chinese Medicine (17/2010), Cancer Therapy
(11/2010), Plant Analysis (7/2009)
2011-07-27
Planta Medica Special Issue: Tropical Diseases
The latest issue of the official journal of GA is devoted to
natural products and tropical diseases. These infectious
diseases are mostly caused by parasites and affect over 1
billion people in mostly poor tropical and subtropical
climates. There is a big need for new drugs, and given the
historical successes of natural products in malaria therapy,
i.e. quinine and artemisinine derivatives, natural products
may provide continued inspiration in drug development for
other tropical diseases as well. The Special Issue provides
an up-to-date overview on the topic, covering assay systems
for screening to promising molecules and improved
traditional phytomedicines. Prof. Joëlle Quetin-Leclercq and
Dr. Joanne Bero, both from the Louvain Drug Research
Institute, Brussels, acted as Guest Editors for this issue.
See at:
http://www.thieme-connect.de/ejournals/toc/plantamedica
European Medicines Agency Consultation: Five Draft Community
herbal monographs
The European Medicines Agency has published five new draft
Community herbal monographs.
Comments on the draft monographs below are welcome by 15th
April 2011 and the documents are available for consultation
on the following webpages:
Please note that the deadline for comments on the two
monographs below is 15th June 2011:
Please, send your comments to
hmpc.secretariat@ema.europa.eu
by using the
standard template.
(2011-03-09, 7)
Free papers from the
2010 Symposium on the “Dietary Supplements Health and
Education Act”
The enactment of the
Dietary Supplements Health and Education Act of 1994 (DHSEA)
was a ‘milestone in the development of Public Health policy
in the United States’. The first issue of this year of
Fitoterapia, guest edited by Dr. Guido Pauli, summarizes the
progress in the field over the past years and the impact the
DSHEA had on US public health policy. In addition it
discusses current research questions such as identifying
botanical mechanisms of action, and clinical development of
dietary supplements.
Click
here for free access
to the issue.
(2011-03-15,
6)
EDQM NEWS - March 2011
EDQM ISO Certification:
The EDQM is proud to announce that the scope of its ISO
9001:2008 certificate has been extended. More information:
http://www.edqm.eu/en/Whats-new- 525.html
European Pharmacopoeia
The updated Work Programme
(November 2010), List of Texts adopted at the November 2010
Session of the European Pharmacopoeia Commission and the PDG
State of Work (November 2010) now available. More
information:
http://www.edqm.eu/en/Work_Programme-607.html
Enquiry: Demonstration of Uniformity of Dosage Units
using Large Sample Sizes
Proposal for a new general chapter in the European
Pharmacopoeia. More information:
http://www.edqm.eu/en/News-and-General-Information-43.html
HealthCare - Blood
Transfusion
2005 & 2006 Reports on the Collection, Testing and Use of
Blood and Blood Components in Europe are available to
download:
http://www.edqm.eu/en/Reports-70.html
NEW: Trends and Observations on the Collection,
Testing and Use of Blood and Blood Components in Europe
(2001-2005 Report):
http://www.edqm.eu/en/Reports-70.html
Classification of Medicines
The Committee of Ministers'
Resolution ResAP(2007)1 on the Classification of Medicines
as Regards their Supply and Appendices (2010 Edition) is
available:
http://www.edqm.eu/en/Classification-of-Medicines-as-Regards-their-Supply-
1241.html
Reference Standards
The EDQM has completed the
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) GHS
hazard classification assessment of substances that the EDQM
supplies as reference standards. All stakeholders are
invited to review and, if necessary, comment on the proposed
GHS Classifications. More information:
http://www.edqm.eu/en/Quality-Safety-amp-Environment-76.html
Control of Medicines – Veterinary Biologicals
Contact List (Annex IV) for the
Network of Competent Authorities has been updated :
http://www.edqm.eu/en/Veterinary-Biologicals-OCABROBPR-
634.html
Certification
The Certification of Substances
Division will publish on a monthly basis, a report
containing some relevant figures relating to its main
activities. More information:
http://www.edqm.eu/en/News-and-General-Information-164.html
Publications
All back issues of Pharmeuropa,
Pharmeuropa Bio or Pharmeuropa Scientific Notes from 1987 up
to 2009 are available for FREE. More information:
http://www.edqm.eu/en/Pharmeuropa_Pharmeuropa_Bio_Scientific_Notes-
584.html
Blood Transfusion Guide
NEW EDITION:
Guide to the
preparation, use and quality assurance of blood components,
16th Edition (2010)
now available to order. More
information:
http://www.edqm.eu/en/Blood_Transfusion_Organ_Transplantation_Guides-
1131.html
Organ Transplantation Guide
NEW EDITION:
Guide to the
safety and quality assurance for the transplantation of
organs, tissues and cells, 4th Edition (2010)
now available to order.
More information:
http://www.edqm.eu/en/Blood_Transfusion_Organ_Transplantation_Guides-
1131.html
Pharmeuropa 23.2
List of Contents now available.
For more information on how to order :
www.edqm.eu/store/
7th Edition European
Pharmacopoeia - Supplement 7.2
List of Contents now available
to download (under the Downloads section):
http://www.edqm.eu/en/News-and-General-Information-43.html
Employment
Vacancy Notice N° e45/2011: Head
of Department (Grade A5)
Department Publications & Multimedia (DPM)
Closing Date: 21 March 2011
More information:
http://www.edqm.eu/en/Employment-1377.html
Events
7th Edition European
Pharmacopoeia Training Session, 11-12 July 2011, Strasbourg,
France. Open for registrations :
http://www.edqm.eu/en/PhEur-
Training-Session-Strasbourg-France-256.html
Symposium on Implementation
of Pathogen Reduction Technologies for Blood Components
,2-3 September 2010
Strasbourg, France.
The “Executive Summary” is available to download:
http://www.edqm.eu/en/Proceedings-of-
International-Conferences-83.html
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