{"id":5602,"date":"2008-02-25T17:40:02","date_gmt":"2008-02-25T17:40:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/pharmacy\/?p=5602"},"modified":"2008-02-25T17:40:02","modified_gmt":"2008-02-25T17:40:02","slug":"uris-college-of-pharmacy-bolsters-natural-products-chemistry-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/pharmacy\/2008\/02\/25\/uris-college-of-pharmacy-bolsters-natural-products-chemistry-work\/","title":{"rendered":"URI\u2019s College of Pharmacy bolsters natural products chemistry work"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Navindra P. Seeram<\/a>, newly hired assistant professor of pharmacognosy in the College of Pharmacy, stands next to a Saw Palmetto plant, which is used to treat enlarged prostate or benign prostatic hyperplasia. URI Department of Communications and Marketing Photo by Michael Salerno. He is a Charlestown resident.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Discovering drugs from natural sources part of College\u2019s 50-year history<\/h3>\n

KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 February 25, 2008 \u2013 After it opened its doors in 1957, the University of Rhode Island\u2019s College of Pharmacy quickly became known for its medicinal plant research.
\nFifty years later, the College is strengthening its work in pharmacognosy, a branch of pharmacy dealing with medicinal substances from natural sources, especially plants.
\nTo that end, it has added two new faculty members, one of whom will conduct research on higher plants, including berry fruits, and a second whose research interest is genomics, including interpretation of DNA sequences of microbes to identify or modify compounds that are useful medicinally.
\n\u201cWe now have a complementary, three-pronged approach to natural products research\u2014medicinal plants, marine microbes and genetics,\u201d said Pharmacy Professor David Rowley<\/a>, whose research focuses on marine microbes.
\n\u201cOur renewed focus on natural products and our leadership in that area is a return to the roots of the College,\u201d said Ron Jordan, the interim dean of the College.
\nURI\u2019s natural products research began in an era when natural healing treatments and interest in the healing power of fruits and vegetables were almost unheard of in the world of health care. It started with the arrival of Heber Youngken Jr., the College\u2019s first dean in 1957. In 1966, he joined with John Knauss, the first dean of the Graduate School of Oceanography, to make a \u201cdrugs from the sea program\u201d a key part of the new Sea Grant program. The pharmacy college hired Yuzuru Shimizu, one of the first professors hired under the Sea Grant program. By the time of his retirement this year, Shimizu had established himself and the University as international leaders in marine natural products research.
\n

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This photo shows the flowering Madagascar Periwinkle plant at the URI College of Pharmacy\u2019s Medicinal Plant Garden. The plant produces two substances that have been identified as active anti-cancer agents.<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\n\u201cMore than half of our drugs come from natural sources or are derivatives of natural products, so natural products chemistry is an essential component of drug discovery,\u201d Rowley said. \u201cBut we\u2019ve only scratched the surface when it comes to looking at global biodiversity. We need new medicines for bacterial diseases, cancer, inflammatory illnesses, and there are answers to our medical needs in the natural environment.
\n\u201cMost of our current antibiotic drugs derive from natural products produced by terrestrial microorganisms, so as we try to stay one step ahead of the pathogens, the most logical next place to look is at marine microbes,\u201d Rowley said.
\n\u201cWe wanted to expand our scope of research,\u201d Rowley said. \u201cWe wanted someone who studies the higher plants.\u201d
\nSo the College hired Navindra P. Seeram<\/a>, who obtained his doctorate in natural products chemistry from the University of West Indies, Jamaica. There, he researched plant compounds from native Carribbean plants. He continued his research into what he calls \u201cNature\u2019s Pharmacy.\u201d
\nHe has co-authored more than 60 peer-reviewed papers, 10 book chapters, co-edited one book and holds several patents. He has gained international recognition in the field of bioactive botanical research.
\n\u201cDr. Seeram excited us because he is investigating several foods that might be useful in chemotherapy,\u201d Rowley said.
\nAmong the fruits that Seeram is investigating are pomegranates, strawberries and cranberries.
\nThe College also hired Daniel W. Udwary, who earned his doctorate in chemistry from Johns Hopkins University. He completed postdoctoral work at the University of Arizona and at Scripps Institution of Oceanography where he worked on biosynthetic pathways in numerous bacterial species. Udwary has a keen interest in \u201cgenome mining\u201d\u2014using simple computational approaches to interpret the DNA sequences of microbes to aid in the identification and\/or modification of medicinally useful compounds.
\n\u201cWith our expansion, we now have a program that will be attractive to a wide variety of students,\u201d Rowley said. \u201cThey will be able to investigate important new areas related to therapeutic treatments from higher plants, including foods that have medicinal value,\u201d Rowley said.
\nHe said Udwary\u2019s work will focus on how natural products are made through gene-based research. \u201cUsing decoded genomes, Dan and his students will be able to discover new biological products with potential for drug development.
\n\u201cWhat we now have are complementary areas of expertise, better training for graduates and undergraduates and outstanding collaborative opportunities within the URI faculty and beyond,\u201d Rowley said.
\nHe said such an approach would help the College capitalize on unique research funding opportunities through the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the National Institutes of Health\u2019s Center for Alternative and Complementary Medicine.
\nWhile Rowley, Seeram and Udwary work in key natural products areas, they aren\u2019t the only ones in the College on the case. The following faculty members are also getting attention in their specialties: Fatemeh Akhlaghi<\/a>, anti-rejection drugs, such as cyclosporin, for patients with organ transplants; Bingfang Yan<\/a>, research on how drugs, herbs, and hormones interact; Ann Hume<\/a>, complementary medicines, herbs and other natural products; Joan Lausier, associate dean, natural products formulation; and Kerry LaPlante<\/a>, antibiotics research.
\nThis academic year, URI\u2019s College of Pharmacy is celebrating its 50th anniversary. With 3,600 alumni working in pharmaceutical research, community pharmacies and pharmaceutical business development, the College has a worldwide reputation for excellence. The College\u2019s faculty members are leaders in natural products chemistry, toxicology, and cancer and AIDS research. Its faculty and staff also developed a model for outreach to senior citizens that has been copied around the world.
\nMedia Contact: Dave Lavallee<\/a>, 401-874-5862
\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Discovering drugs from natural sources part of College\u2019s 50-year history KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 February 25, 2008 \u2013 After it opened its doors in 1957, the University of Rhode Island\u2019s College of Pharmacy quickly became known for its medicinal plant research. Fifty years later, the College is strengthening its work in pharmacognosy, a branch of pharmacy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":639,"featured_media":5603,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[161,173,191,260,35,77],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5602","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-bps","category-news-people-seeram","category-news-people-rowley","category-news-research-natural-products","category-news","category-news-research"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/pharmacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5602","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/pharmacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/pharmacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/pharmacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/639"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/pharmacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5602"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/pharmacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5602\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/pharmacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5603"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/pharmacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5602"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/pharmacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5602"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/pharmacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5602"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}