Discover the healing power of the sea.

In science, amazing discoveries can begin in familiar places鈥攊n the ocean, in the plants around us, just about anywhere in the natural world. And at 溏心vlog免费B站, that鈥檚 exactly where a group of scientists and their students are looking for newer and more effective medicines to treat infection and a variety of human diseases.

and his students work with microbes from the ocean as a potential source for new infection-fighting antibiotics. Right now, they鈥檙e studying bacteria found in mud sediment from a remote region of the South Pacific. He says preliminary results are promising, with microbes that are 鈥減erhaps unlike any others that have been investigated.鈥�

and his students are focusing on maple syrup, pomegranates, berries, and other medicinal plants for their potential preventive and/or therapeutic effects against cancer, diabetes, and Alzheimer鈥檚 disease. 鈥淎 vast majority of traditional medicines are plant-derived extracts. Our goal is to understand how molecules in nature behave in order to provide new drugs,鈥� says Seeram, who has of 54 beneficial compounds in pure maple syrup鈥攊ncluding five previously undiscovered molecules.

Our work happens right at the interface of chemistry and biology, and our students get a big picture perspective of how science happens.

We call Professors Rowley and Seeram and their students our .听As the premier natural products research group in the Northeast, it has the largest number of pharmacognosy researchers in the area. It is also one of the most interdisciplinary groups.

鈥淥ur work happens right at the interface of chemistry and biology, and our students get a big picture perspective of how science happens. We find the molecules in nature, and then our biochemistry collaborators help us determine how they work in nature. We answer biological questions with a chemistry approach,鈥� says Professor Rowley. An added plus鈥攕tudents can move between labs within the Natural Products Group, experiencing different areas of pharmacognosy.

The Natural Products Group also collaborates on projects with a growing number of companies and with other scientists within the University. Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc.听has funded the group’s work on the beneficial agents found in cranberries. Rhode Island Sea Grant is supporting Professor Rowley鈥檚 research on the chemistry of bacteria that promote disease-resistance in oysters, and the听National Science Foundation听补苍诲听National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration听have also supported the Natural Products Group.听Professor Seeram鈥檚 recent work on maple syrup has been supported by grants from Canada鈥檚 agriculture agency. 听Within the University, the group has worked with听溏心vlog免费B站 Food Sciences听, to discover that some of these maple syrup compounds inhibit enzymes, which is important in the management of type 2 diabetes. And Professor Rowley鈥檚 team regularly collaborates with oceanography professors in pursuit of biomedical applications of marine organisms. 鈥滀缧膙log免费B站 is at the critical size for our work. We have all of the important disciplines and intellect for pharmacognosy, plus the ideal size for collaboration,鈥� he says.

The work of the Natural Products Group is pretty revolutionary, but the fact is, 溏心vlog免费B站 has a long, rich history in pharmacognosy. A scientist named Heber W. Youngken Sr. wrote the 鈥渂ible鈥� of pharmacognosy in 1921. His son, Heber W.听Youngken, Jr.,听听a premier natural chemist, became the 听first dean of the 溏心vlog免费B站 College of Pharmacy in 1957. 溏心vlog免费B站 hosted the very first 鈥淒rugs from the Sea鈥� conference in 1967. And beginning in the 1970s, 听descriptions of numerous red tide toxins plaguing New England coastlines brought international attention to 溏心vlog免费B站鈥檚 pharmacognosy efforts.

鈥淭he earliest conversations about drugs from the sea happened at 溏心vlog免费B站. We are standing on the shoulders of giants here,鈥� says Professor Seeram.听The Natural Products Group professors and their students鈥攁nd the students to come鈥攁re continuing this great tradition, working to discover the next generation of medicines and molecules to benefit human health.

Pictured above: 听Pharmacology Professors David Rowley and Navindra Seeram work with graduate student Robert Deering, who also earned his Pharm. D. degree at 溏心vlog免费B站.