HerbalEGram: Volume 3

A special issue of the Journal of Natural Products was published in March 2006 in honor of Norman R. Farnsworth, PhD, Research Professor of Pharmacognosy and Distinguished University Professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Among his numerous positions, consultancies and activities, Dr. Farnsworth is also a founding member of ABC’s Board of Trustees.
 
The special JNP issue featured an editorial documenting Professor Farnsworth’s contributions to pharmacognosy and natural products research, including his many research and academic achievements, his service on various expert committees and panels, and his establishment of the NAPRALERT database.¹ According to the editorial, co-written by long-time Farnsworth colleagues Harry H.S. Fong, PhD, Geoffrey A. Cordell, PhD, and A. Douglas Kinghorn, PhD, “Professor Farnsworth is the quintessential renaissance man, who along with such distinguished colleagues as Arthur E. Schwarting, Varro E. Tyler, and Jack L. Beal, among others, almost half a century ago, helped transform pharmacognosy from descriptive medical botany and mycology into the dynamic chemistry- and biology-based multidisciplinary science that it is today.” The journal issue further recognized Dr. Farnsworth through its selection of articles, all of which were chosen to reflect Dr. Farnsworth’s broad scientific interests.
 
Contributors to this special edition include Fredi Kronenberg, PhD, Edward J. Kennelly, PhD, Gordon M. Cragg, PhD, Mahabir P. Gupta, PhD, Michael Heinrich, PhD, John M. Pezzuto, PhD, Elaine Elisabetsky, PhD, D. Doel Soejarto, PhD, Barbara N. Timmermann, PhD, Ikhlas A. Khan, PhD, Arnold Vlietinck, PhD, David G.I. Kingston, PhD, Lars Bohlin, PhD, Tom J. Mabry, PhD, Connie M. Weaver, PhD, V. Srini Srinivasan, PhD, Gabriel I. Giancaspro, PhD, David B. Roll, PhD, Jennifer Salguero, RPh, John P.N. Rosazza, PhD, and John M. Cassady, PhD.
 
The Journal of Natural Products is a publication of the American Chemical Society (ACS) and the American Society of Pharmacognosy (ASP). (It was originally called Lloydia, in honor of the famous medicinal plant researcher John Uri Lloyd, and was initially published as the official journal of ASP.) Professor Farnsworth was a founding member of ASP, and he is the organization’s only founding member still actively engaged in academia and conducting natural product drug discovery and botanical dietary supplement research. The issue honoring Dr. Farnsworth is the 3^rd number of the journal’s 69^th volume. It is available for purchase through ACS (http://pubs.acs.org/journals/jnprdf/media/order_info.html). The Table of Contents and the editorial described above are accessible, free of charge, online.
 
Several articles in recent HerbalGram issues have featured Dr. Farnsworth’s latest awards and accomplishments.^2,3,4  An article in the May 2006 issue of HerbalEGram and the most recent issue of HerbalGram (#71), “NAPRALERT Herbal Database Available on Internet,” provides an update on the increased accessibility of NAPRALERT, the world’s largest database on medicinal plant research, established by Dr. Farnsworth and his colleagues in 1975.⁵

-Courtney Cavaliere

References

1. Fong HHS, Cordell GA, Kinghorn AD. Editorial. Journal of Natural Products. 2006;69:311-313.
2. Cavaliere C. Farnsworth honored with ASP research achievement award. HerbalGram. 2006;69:19.
3. Anon. Farnsworth recognized with Pharmanex prize for scientific contributions. HerbalGram. 2002;55:10.
4. Hunt L. Farnsworth named distinguished professor at University of Illinois. HerbalGram. 2001;53:16.
5. Anon. NAPRALERT herbal database available on internet. HerbalGram. 2006;71:16.