Tuesday, November 2nd,  1999

- Plenary Session 5
 (Colloquium on Garcinia Kola)

Medicinal Plants in Emerging Infectious Diseases and AIDS

Over 300 generic infectious diseases are distributed haphazardly in time and space. More than one thousand pathogenic bacteria, viruses, parasites and fungi have been described. This session will focus on major infectious, parasitic, nutritional and chronic diseases of both developing and developed countries including their public health impacts.

SESSION 1 SPEAKERS              

Alice Clark 
University of Mississippi, USA
-Targeting Virulence Factors for the Discovery of Plant-Derived Anti-Infectives   

Otto Sticher
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Switzerland
Bioactive Metabolites From Plants Used In The Traditional Medicine of Papua New Guinea and Mexico                                              

PLENARY SESSION 2

Ethical and policy issues of bioprospecting/Business Opportunities and the Role of Industry in Ethnobotany

A significant part of the ethnomedical approach involves the use of knowledge collected from indigenous native populations and therefore serious thought has to be given to resolving inherent ethical, social values and policy issues. This session will review how and to what extent can cultural, ethical and social structures be incorporated into technical and scientific developments. Discussion s and debates on intellectual property systems, patent requirements and international agreements will be done.

Session 2 Speakers

PLENARY SESSION 3

Networking with Shaman and Community reciprocity

The advent of ethnomedicine comes with benefit sharing arising from plant-based drug discovery and commercialization. Strategies and experience in networking and returning short and long-term benefits to healers, communities and culture groups will be discussed.

Session 3 Speakers

Mike Balick
New York Botanical Garden, USA
(to be announced)

James Miller
Missouri Botanical Garden, USA
Beyond the Convention on Biological Diversity: International Bioprospecting Agreements as a Tool to Achieve Equitable Benefit Sharing

Dave Stephenson
Brauchli-Synder, LLC, USA
Indigenous Peoples’ Right and Drug Development Using Traditional Medicine

PLENARY SESSION 4

Ethnobotanical Approach to Drug Discovery: Strengths and Limitations

Advances in Biotechnology and molecular science have made it increasingly feasible to transform traditional medicine from an almost invisible health care system to a modern venture. Nearly always, the active compounds isolated from plants contain new moieties, which serve as templates for the synthesis of a wide range of therapeutic agents often with novel mechanisms of action. This session will discuss the strengths, limitations and future of this drug discovery approach.

Session 4 Speakers

Paul Alan Cox
National Tropical Botanical Garden, USA
(to be announced)

Brian Schuster
Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, USA
(to be announced)

B.N. Dhawan
Central Drug Research Institute, India
Multiple Strategies For Development Of New Drugs From Natural Products

Joshua Rosenthal
Fogarty International, National Institutes of Health, USA
Traditional Knowledge And Modern Drug Discovery Systems: Opportunities and Challenges

Larry Walker
University of Mississippi, USA
New Therapies From Plant Sources: Drug Discovery Approaches At The National Center For Natural Products Research

Ezio Bombardelli
Indena, Italy
(to be announced)

P.Y. Guru
Central Drug Research Institute, India
Perspective On Utilization Of Knowledge From Indian Traditional Remedies For Identifying And Developing Potential Therapeutic Agents For Some Parasitic Diseases – Problem And Prospects

Johnson Ayafor
University of Dschang, Cameroon
Chemical Diversity In The Genus Aframomum K. Schum.: A Major Source Of Ethnomedicine In West And Central Africa

Jerry Cott
National Center for Complimentary and Alternative Medicine, USA
Research Supported By The NIH On Psychoactive Botanicals

Jody Noe
Brattleboro Naturopathic Clinic, USA
Ethnomedicine Of The Cherokee: Historical And Current Applications

PLENARY SESSION 5

Colloquium on Garcinia Kola

Garcinia kola Heckel (Family Guttifereae) known in commerce as "bitter cola" is a highly valued ingredient in African traditional medicine. The plant is cultivated through out West Africa for its edible fruit and seeds which has been employed in folk medicine as rejuvenating agent and general antidote. Bitter cola seeds have been shown to contain a complex mixture of biflavonoids, prenylated benzophenones and xanthones. 

Many pharmacological effects have been demonstrated for Garcinia biflavonoids, among them are antiviral, anti-inflammatory, antidiabetic, bronchodilator, antihepatotoxic properties, other studies show that antimicrobial activity was due to polyisoprenylated benzophenone. Some proprietary dietary supplements containing Garcinia kola extractives already exist in US and African markets.

This colloquium is centered on G. Kola, its constituents and application in medicine. The ethnobotany, clinical uses, chemistry, pharmacology and commercialization of Garcinia extracts and compounds as well as analytical methods for quantification of marker compounds in these preparations will be discussed. Additionally, all proprietary products are discussed and evaluated on the content of human safety

Session 5 Speakers

Lisa Meserole
Botanical Medicine Academy, USA
Garcinia kola in Clinical Therapeutics – Present And Potential Indications
As A Tonic And Therapeutic Medicine

Angela Kanu
North Carolina, USA
Pharmacological Profiles of Garcinia kola

Govind Kapadia
Howard University, Washington DC, USA
The Chemical Constituents Of Garcinia species

Chris Okunji
Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, USA
Challenges And Issues Involved In The Standardization of Garcinia kola
Formulations

Angela Duncan
Axxon Biopharm Inc., USA
Garcinia kola: The Market, Seeds Of Opportunity

PLENARY SESSION 6

Dietary Supplements – New ingredients From Nature

Unravel the food-supplement connection. What’s "In Store" for tomorrow’s shoppers?  A panel of experts will share the latest food industry market research and predict what customers will be buying in the new millennium

Session 6 Speakers 

A.Douglas Kinghorn
University of Illinois at Chicago, USA
Stevia rebaudiana and Stevioside as Sucrose Substituents: Current Status

Mike Tempesta
NatProd Consulting Services, USA
Overview of New Technologies in the US Herbal Market

PLENARY SESSION 7

Regulatory requirements and standardization of medicinal and aromatic plants

Development of phytomedicines could provide a more affordable, and in some cases more effective, form of local health care. This session will address criteria for evaluating the quality, safety and efficacy of herbal medicines.  National and international policies on regulation of phytomedicines will also be discussed.

Session 7 Speakers

Gabriel Osuide
National Agency for Food Drug Administration and Control, Nigeria
Regulation Of Herbal Medicines In Nigeria: The Role Of The National Agency For Food Drug Administration And Control

V. Srini Srinivasan
US Pharmacopoeia, USA
Challenges And Opportunities In The Development And Establishment Of Public Standards For Botanicals And Their Preparations

Robert Anton
University Louis Pasteur of Strasbourg, France
Some Aspects Of The European Regulatory Requirements Related With Phytomedicines, Nutraceuticals And Cosmetics

Iwe P. Akubue
International Center for Ethnomedicine and Drug Research, Nigeria
(to be announced)

PLENARY SESSION 8

Sourcing of traditional remedies: Case studies of African, Asian and Latin American Markets

The screening of plants, animals and microorganisms for properties of economic interest is one of the key likely activities in the life sciences industry. This session will discuss how such biodiversity prospecting activities are being carried out, the link with biotechnology and identify ways in which these activities and conservation goals can be mutually combined to achieve sustainable development.

Session 8 Speakers

Elijah Sokomba
West African Pharmaceutical Federation
Development Of Herbal Medicines From Traditional Remedies – Perceptive From West African Sub-Region

Joseph Okogun
National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development, Nigeria
Drug Discovery Through Ethnobotany In Nigeria: Some Results

Nigel Gericke
African Natural Health, South Africa
Plants, Products and People – Southern African Perspectives

Barry Foula
Gammel Abdel University, Guinea
Experiences From Research On Plants Used In Guinean Ethnomedicine

Pei Shengji
The Chinese Academy of Sciences
The Transition Of Traditional Society And Traditional Medicine

PLENARY SESSION 9

Nutraceuticals – An Age-Long Health Practice & Healers/Practitioners Role in the Sustainable Use and Conservation of Botanical Medicines

Nutrition research is the scientific basis of the evolving nutraceutical industry. In this session, speakers from a diverse set of industries and nutraceutical venues will discuss the evolutionary trends and priorities of various stakeholders.

Session 9 Speakers

Lisa Meserole
Botanical Medicine Academy, USA
Medicinal Plants In Non Standardized Form In Anti-Aging Therapy: Reducers Of Physiological Decline And Degenerative Disease

Denis Awang
MediPlant Consulting, Canada
(to be announced)

Colin Broughton
Health Protection Branch, Health, Canada
(to be announced)

Marianne Guerin-McManus
Conservation International, USA
The use of Conservation Trust Fund for Sharing Financial Benefits in Bioprospecting Projects

Richard Cech
Horizon Herbs, USA
Balancing Conservation With Utilization

Ferdosi Begum
Development of Biotechnology and environmental Conservation Center, Bangladesh
Ex-situ Conservation of Medicinal Plants by Backyard Home Garden