Ethnopharmacology

Ethnopharmacology is a term with different meanings to different sorts of people. While for many people this is synonomous with the study of medicinal plant bioactivity or pharmacognosy, to me it is the scientific analysis of cultural explanations of how medicinals (mostly plants) are effective. I have been fortunate to be able to be trained in my own culture as a pharmacist (learning several different views of how medicines work), and have studied with traditional experts in several other cultures. In each case there appears to be an internally consistent logic that helps to explain why people become ill, how to treat them, and why they become better. Plants (or plant products) are very common, even in our own system, and therefore there is a role for someone with my research skills.

Below are locations where I have been able to study ethnopharmacology. Sometimes the work has been sponsored by organizations interested in development while at other times the work has been for conservation of biodiversity or cultural diversity.

Hawai‘i

• O`ahu. Evaluation of secondary metabolites of terrestrial invasive and ornamental species of plants using Cancer Research Center of Hawai`i and Hawai`i Biotech, Inc. assays.
• O`ahu. Development of novel extraction techniques that preserve evolved chemical diversity and activity of traditional medicines that is typically lost using standard pharmacognosy methods.
• Kaua`i. Studies of traditional Hawaiian logic for disease diagnosis and selection of plant remedies.

Micronesia

• Kosrae. In conjunction with the University of Hawaii Sea Grant Program and Greg Patterson of the UH Department of Chemistry, Organization and development of an Intellectual Property Rights Agreement with the Kosrae Government, to conduct natural product chemistry research on Kosrae. Submission of collaborative grant proposals for pharmacological evaluation of the flora.
• Rongelap Atoll. Collection and evaluation of the flora of Rongelap and Ailinginae atolls for biological activity in a range of cyto-toxic and cytoremediation assays. Further research has involved study of the same collections as treatments for Anthrax and/or Botulism.

Solomon Islands

• Lauru (Choiseul). Documentation of traditional disease diagnosis system of Ririo and Babatana healers with subsequent evaluation of some of the remedies used for treatment of cancer-like illnesses.

Thailand

• Sakon Nakon. In conjunction with Khon Kaen University, Faculty of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmaceutical Botany and Pharmacognosy, documentation of changing pharmacopoeia of Tai language groups who have relocated south of the Mekong from Laos in the last 200 years.