Global Health, Biodiversity, and New Medicines. University of Costa Rica in San José, Costa Rica. August 20, 2024.
Seminar Summary Report
Opening remarks
María Laura Arias Echandi MSc Vicerrectora de Investigación de la Universidad de Costa Rica
Dr. Luis Esteban Hernández Decano de la Facultad de Farmacia de la Universidad de Costa Rica
Prof. Donald Pfister, former director of the Harvard Herbarium and curator of the Farlow Library and Herbarium. Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences
Veronica Vargas, Ph.D. Research Associate, Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences
Intellectual Property
The current state of Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) for genetic resources in Latin America
Dr. Jorge Cabrera Medaglia, Professor at the University of Costa Rica.
Finding New Natural Products for Diseases
MEDINA Foundation pioneering work in natural-products-based drug discovery for neglected diseases
Dr. Olga Genilloud, Scientific Director MEDINA Foundation, Spain
CST Phytochemicals in cancer prevention
Dr. Omer Kucuk, Emory University, United States
National Cancer Institute’s Program for Natural Product Discovery
Dr. Tanja Grkovic, Staff Scientist at Natural Products Branch, DTP, National Cancer Institute, USA
Screening for novel therapeutics for treating dementia
Dr. Antonio Currais, Staff Scientist, Salk Institute for Biological Studies, USA
Dr. Miguel Angel Chavez, Computational Biology and Chemistry, Universidad Catolica de Santa Maria Peru
Understanding and harnessing the diversity of plant chemistry and metabolism
Dr. Ryan Nett, Assistant Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology at Harvard University
Funding Opportunities
Funding opportunities for natural products research
Flora N. Katz, Ph.D. Director, Division of International Training and Research Fogarty International Center, National Institute of Health, USA
Large extract banks and local capacities
Natural Products-based Bioprospecting Program at INDICASAT: Tackling the Panamanian Biodiversity Hotspot for Drug Discovery
Dr. Marcelino Gutiérrez – INDICASAT Center for Biodiversity and Drug Discovery
Basic of barcodes and their uses
Dr. Matthew E. Smith, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida
Natural product supplements
Exploiting the plant Quillaja saponaria as a source of therapeutic compounds - industrial production
Gaston Salinas, CEO of Botanical Solutio
Exploring Costa Rica’s potential for novel drug development
MSc. Gustavo Carazo Berrocal, Director of the Industrial Department, Pharmacy Faculty, University of Costa Rica
Validating the Bioactivity of Panama's 'Desbaratadora': In Vitro Approaches
Dr. Carmenza Spadafora, Center for Cellular and Molecular Biology of Diseases (CBCMe), Panamá
Using natural extracts in the fight against COVID-19 and its sequelae
Dr. Tamara Rubilar, Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia San Juan Bosco, Argentina
Herbal medicines from the Araucania Region: an opportunity for Human and Societal well-being
Dr. Pamela Leal-Rojas and Dr. Adinson Altamirano, Department of Natural Resources, Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, University of La Frontera, Chile
Closing remarks
German Madrigal, Director, Department of Pharmacy, University of Costa Rica Dra.
Giselle Tamayo, Director, Center for Research of Natural Products