National Center for Natural Products Research News
Natural Products Center Celebrates 20th Botanicals Forum
OXFORD, Miss. – For the first time since 2019, the botanicals industry descended on Oxford this spring for the International Conference on the Science of Botanicals.
The conference, hosted annually by the National Center for Natural Products Research within the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy, brought together leading industry figures, government officials and academics for a week of discussion and idea sharing of the ancient, yet evolving, study on medicinal plants.
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NCNPR Scientist, Pharmacy Student Honored at University’s Celebration of Service Awards
April 11, 2022
OXFORD, Miss. – The University of Mississippi Division of Diversity and Community Engagementwill recognize outstanding accomplishments in community-engaged research, learning, service and scholarship Tuesday (April 12) during its annual Celebration of Service Awards.
The program begins at 2 p.m. in the Johnson Commons Ballroom. Honors to be presented include the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award, the Excellence in Community Engagement Award and the new Community Engaged Partnership Fund.
Read More: “NCNPR Scientist, Pharmacy Student Honored at University’s Celebration of Service Awards”
dōTERRA, Pharmacy School Sign Five-Year Partnership to Advance Essential Oil Research
March 2, 2022
PLEASANT GROVE, Utah and OXFORD, Miss. – dōTERRA and the University of Mississippi National Center for Natural Products Research, based within the UM School of Pharmacy, have agreed to a five-year research partnership that will focus on establishing quality standards for the essential oil industry.
As part of the partnership, NCNPR will study the chemometrics, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics and metabolomics of essential oils. Officials from both the company and the university anticipate that the research will result in multiple peer-reviewed, published studies that will serve the broader essential oils and scientific communities.
Read More: “dōTERRA, Pharmacy School Sign Five-Year Partnership to Advance Essential Oil Research”
Pediatric CBD Drug Trial at UMMC Gets Two-Year Extension
December 14, 2020
JACKSON, Miss. – The clinical trial of a new cannabis-derived drug to treat seizures in children has moved into a study of its long-term safety and effectiveness during a two-year extension.
Approved by Food and Drug Administration, the extension will allow further study of the clinically tested investigational drug product in new trial participants as well as in children already participating.
Read More: “Pediatric CBD Drug Trial at UMMC Gets Two Year Extension”
Natural Products Center Gets NIH Award to Advance Botanical Research
August 10, 2020
OXFORD, Miss. – The National Center for Natural Products Research, in partnership with the University of Mississippi Medical Center, has been awarded a nearly-$6 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to study the use of a popular oral supplement in promoting resilience against viral infections.
Through the award, the NCNPR, which is part of the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy, established the Botanical Dietary Supplements Research Center and became a component of the NIH Consortium for Advancing Research on Botanicals and Other Natural Products, or CARBON, Program. Ikhlas Khan, NCNPR director, serves as the botanical center’s director and Nirmal Pugh is associate director.
Read More: “Natural Products Center Gets NIH Award to Advance Botanical Research”
UM Researchers, Woodcliff Skincare Partner for Aloe Product Patent
OXFORD, Miss. – University of Mississippi researchers, along with Woodcliff Skincare Solutions Inc., have been jointly issued a patent for Alasta, the main ingredient in a line of skin care products being sold under the brand name Sustainable Youth.
The primary ingredient in Alasta is derived from the aloe vera plant and is responsible for the clinically observed effects of enhanced skin firmness and wrinkle reduction. The composition contains aloeride, an immune-enhancing extract that was previously patented by the university and licensed to Woodcliff.
Read More: “UM Researchers, Woodcliff Skincare Partner for Aloe Product Patent”
UM Partners with Emerald Bioscience to License Cannabis-derived Drugs
OXFORD, Miss. – The cannabis research program at the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy has partnered with pharmaceutical company Emerald Bioscience Inc. to license two new drug technologies that may provide nonaddictive pain management, prevent blindness and alleviate the threat of irreversible vision loss from glaucoma and other eye diseases.
The two drug candidate formulations include a synthetic prodrug of tetrahydrocannabinol, commonly known as THC, the main psychoactive compound associated with marijuana, and a synthetic analog of cannabidiol another compound that is attracting widespread attention as a potential treatment for a variety of medical conditions. Both drug candidates are derivatives of the natural THC and CBD found in the cannabis plant.
Read More: “UM Partner with Emerald Bioscience to License Cannabis-derived Drugs”
Theacrine (TeaCrine®) and methylliberine (Dynamine™) are distinct caffeine-like compounds that have been shown to promote energy, mood and focus without many of caffeine’s negative impacts.
With a grant from Compound Solutions, Inc., University of Mississippi/NCNPR principal research scientist Ryan Yates, Pharm.D./Ph.D. seeks to determine if combining these unique compounds impacts blood levels and pharmacological responses to caffeine.
“Dietary supplements comprising multiple ingredients are commonplace in today’s marketplace,” Yates said. “Unfortunately, the harmful potential for different ingredients to interact in the body is largely ignored. Our research is important because the results will aid in our understanding of how to safely combine caffeine, theacrine, and/or methylliberine in dietary supplement products.”
For Research and Development: Mississippi Pharmaceutical Company Supports UM with Major Gift
OXFORD, Miss. – Impressive work by the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy and the National Center for Natural Products Research (NCNPR) inspired a pharmaceutical company to make a major gift.
Clark Levi, owner of Phlight Pharma of Ocean Springs, Mississippi, and Marc Fluitt, head of Strategic Initiatives, presented a $200,000 gift to the university, half of which will be used at the pharmacy dean’s discretion; the other half is designated to help discover medicinal properties in plants.
Read more: “Mississippi Pharmaceutical Company Supports UM with Major Gift”
University Obtains New Patent for Poison Ivy, Oak Vaccine
OXFORD, Miss. – The University of Mississippi has been issued its fourth patent for a product that could prevent the painful itching and rash due to exposure to poison ivy, poison oak and poison sumac.
The compound is based on research conducted in the UM School of Pharmacy and at ElSohly Laboratories Inc. Hapten Sciences, a Memphis-based biopharmaceutical company, obtained a worldwide, exclusive license for the technology from the university in 2010 and has conducted extensive preclinical and clinical development work since then.
Read more: “University Obtains New Patent for Poison Ivy, Oak Vaccine”
School of Pharmacy Ranked Sixth in Research Funding
OXFORD, Miss. – The University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy rose to sixth in the nation in external research funding for 2018, according to the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy.
Research funding reached $21.2 million in 2018, placing the School of Pharmacy second in the SEC and among the top 5 percent of pharmacy schools nationwide.
Read more: “School of Pharmacy Ranked Sixth in Research Funding”
School of Pharmacy Honors Alice Clark as Alumna of the Year
OXFORD, Miss. – After a nearly 40-year career with the University of Mississippi, Vice Chancellor Emerita of University Relations Alice Clark is being honored as the 2019 School of Pharmacy alumna of the year.
“I’m so honored to be recognized in this way by the place I’ve called home for so many years,” Clark said. “Throughout my career, I’ve been very fortunate to be a part of many great teams and to work with many wonderful collaborators and colleagues, especially my late husband, Dr. Charles Hufford. I am grateful to be recognized in this way for our collective efforts.”
Read more: “School of Pharmacy Honors Alice Clark as Alumna of the Year”
Federally Funded Marijuana Turns 50
OXFORD, Miss. – Fifty years ago, the Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy was awarded a competitive contract from the government to grow marijuana that could be standardized for research.
Interest in marijuana research had grown throughout the late ’60s, and the government wanted to study the effects of cannabis on the brain and the body. To do that, it needed a source of certifiable plant material that was responsibly grown and harvested.
Read more: “Federally Funded Marijuana Turns 50”
Marijuana Project Head to Deliver Pharmacy School’s Waller Lecture
OXFORD, Miss. – Mahmoud ElSohly, co-director of the University of Mississippi’s Marijuana Project, will deliver the School of Pharmacy’s 15th Coy W. Waller Distinguished Lecture at 11 a.m. Friday (Oct. 19) at the Gertrude C. Ford Center for the Performing Arts.
The lecture series was established in 2004 to recognize the founder of UM’s marijuana cultivation program and former director of the pharmacy school’s Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Coy W. Waller. ElSohly’s talk, “Building on the Legacy of Coy Waller at Ole Miss,” will celebrate Waller’s vision for the Marijuana Project and expand on research developments.
Read more: “Marijuana Project Head to Deliver Pharmacy School’s Waller Lecture”
Alice Clark Retiring as UM Vice Chancellor for University Relations
OXFORD, Miss. – Alice Clark, a senior University of Mississippi administrator whose nearly four decades of visionary leadership have driven major advancements, is retiring at the end of June. Clark is an F.A.P. Barnard Distinguished Professor of Pharmacognosy and the university’s vice chancellor for university relations.
Clark earned both her master’s and doctoral degrees in pharmacognosy at UM and joined the university as a research associate and faculty member in 1979. She later served as the first director of the university’s National Center for Natural Products Research.
Read more: “Alice Clark Retiring as UM Vice Chancellor for University Relations”
UM ‘Corpse Flower’ Will Soon Bloom with Smell of Death
OXFORD, Miss. – Just keep watching – that’s the best advice for witnessing the soon-to-blossom, towering titan arum housed in the atrium of the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy’s Faser Hall. The odd-looking plant, which has the largest unbranched flower cluster in the world, is expected to bloom any hour now.
When it does, the 5-foot-tall flowering plant (Amorphophallus titanum) will appear even more otherworldly, with its now-lime-green spathe unfolding to display a dark burgundy. The species also emits a decomposing flesh odor when it blooms, a smell intended to attract pollinators but a putrid smell nonetheless that has earned titan arum the nickname “corpse flower” or “corpse plant.”
Read more: “UM ‘Corpse Flower’ Will Soon Bloom with Smell of Death”
UM Scientists Work Toward Natural Remedy for Bed Bugs
OXFORD, Miss. – It’s a fear for children that monsters reside under the bed. But those monsters could be living on the mattress or in the sheets. They’re called bed bugs.
However, scientists with the National Center for Natural Products Research at the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy are searching for a natural remedy to stop the insect from not only biting, but growing in rapid numbers.
Read more: “UM Scientists Work Toward Natural Remedy for Bed Bugs”
Khan Recognized as University Creates Distinguished Professor Honor
OXFORD, Miss. – Three University of Mississippi faculty members were appointed as Distinguished Professors during the spring faculty meeting Friday (May 11) in Fulton Chapel.
The honorees are John Daigle, director of the Center for Wireless Communications and professor of electrical engineering; Donald Dyer, associate dean for faculty and academic affairs in the College of Liberal Arts and professor of Russian and linguistics; and Ikhlas A. Khan, director of the National Center for Natural Products Research and professor of pharmacognosy.
Read more: “Khan Recognized as University Creates Distinguished Professor Honor”
Botanical Experts Gather in Oxford for International Conference
OXFORD, Miss. – Scientists and visitors from around the globe gathered in Oxford this week (April 9-12) for the 18th annual International Conference on the Science of Botanicals.
Organized and hosted by the National Center for Natural Products Research at the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy, the conference welcomed 280 registrants from universities, government and business institutions who explored the topic of synergy between natural products and human health. Participants discussed current research topics related to natural products research, development, safety, quality and regulations.
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NCNPR Scientist Honored for Cannabis Research
OXFORD, Miss. – Suman Chandra, senior research scientist in the National Center for Natural Products Research, was honored with an Outstanding Scientist Award at the International Conference on Recent Advances in Agriculture and Horticulture Sciences in New Delhi, India.
The Society of Tropical Agriculture gives this annual award to a scientist who has contributed to the study of agriculture and horticulture. Chandra works with NCNPR’s Marijuana Project, housed within the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy, studying the propagation of cannabis intended for research purposes.
Read more: “NCNPR Scientist Honored for Cannabis Research”
NCNPR Receives Award to Research Common Military Dietary Supplements
OXFORD, Miss. – The National Center for Natural Products Research received an award of over $225,000 from the Henry M. Jackson Foundation to study the ingredients found in popular dietary supplements used by military personnel.
As a result, NCNPR will conduct collaborative research, known as Collaborative Analytics for Safer Supplements, in conjunction with the Consortium for Health and Military Performance at the Uniformed Services University.
Read more: “NCNPR Receives Award to Research Common Military Dietary Supplements”
Natural Products Center Director Wins Lifetime Achievement Award
February 12, 2018
OXFORD, Miss. – Ikhlas Khan, director of the National Center for Natural Products Research at the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy, is the winner of AOAC International’s 2018 Harvey W. Wiley Award, which recognizes lifetime scientific achievement.
Read more: “Natural Products Center Director Wins Lifetime Achievement Award”
University Researchers Discover Key Ingredient for Skin Care Line
OXFORD, Miss. – Scientists at the University of Mississippi’s National Center for Natural Products Research spend much of their time working to discover new pharmaceutical products, botanical dietary supplements and agrichemicals. Once in a while, however, discoveries made at the center benefit something a little more cosmetic.