Innovation through Interactions

Virginia Polytechnic Inst And St Univ, Blacksburg VA

Investigators

Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Natural products have provided the key starting materials to improve human health by providing therapeutic agents and structural templates for medicinal chemists for generations. Thus, the field is certain to remain contemporary if it continues to embrace the current challenges of human health. The American Society of Pharmacognosy (ASP) as well as this conference focuses on discovering molecules from nature and advancing their application to improve human health. The theme for the 2023 meeting in Bethesda, MD is “Innovation through Interactions” and will highlight the various rich interactions – between scientific collaborators, synergism among natural products, interactions between symbionts and pathogens – that has led to and will lead to important discoveries that impact human health. The aim for this proposal is to identify diverse speakers and content for the 2023 ASP conference, including equal representation of women, and representation from underrepresented groups and diverse institutions. Our goal is to reduce registration rates to encourage attendance by undergraduate and graduate students as well as faculty from our regional minority serving PUIs and HBCUs. Support for this project will further facilitate outreach activities to increase the diversity of the attendees. A second key aim for this meeting is an assessment of panomics approaches to the discovery and development of natural product prototypes for the treatment of emerging infectious diseases and using immunomodulation for disease control. The need for better controls for emerging infectious diseases needs no explanation; however, the role of natural products as critical starting materials and new prototypes will be addressed as part of the 2023 ASP conference. The final key aim is to stimulate interdisciplinary collaborations to solve next generation challenges. The ASP meeting will provide the venue and interactions to catalyze collaborations and networking, which will spur creative interdisciplinary discussions and drive new ideas for solutions. We fully anticipate that natural products will serve the needs of human health by providing new prototypes and biological properties well into the future. This conference will showcase many aspects of these emerging needs with cutting-edge approaches that are moving the field forward at an accelerated pace. We have and will continue to select leaders in the field to serve as conference chairs and speakers that align well with the mission of the NCCIH, including a significant number of speakers with expertise in analytical techniques for evaluating and standardizing materials used as complementary medicines. This project seeks funding to support the ASP meeting that will be held July 22-26th in Bethesda, MD. The ASP is the largest society in the USA that focuses on natural products. Support from the NIH will help offset registration fees and assist with travel for students and new faculty from the US and US Territories with a strong focus on regional HBCUs of the mid-Atlantic, US. Thus, this meeting will assist to train the next generation of scientists through the recruitment and support attendees from the PUIs with a focus on the mid-Atlantic, US.