Originally published October 18 2005
Major research collaboration focuses on African plants
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
The International Center for Indigenous Phytotherapy Studies is a collaborative effort between American and South African university researchers to discover remedies in African plants.
How safe and effective these treatments are will be the focus of The International Center for Indigenous Phytotherapy Studies (TICIPS), a collaborative research effort between the University of Missouri-Columbia and the University of the Western Cape, South Africa.
The center will be funded by a $4.4 million, 4-year grant from the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicines (NCCAM), a division of the National Institutes of Health.
"The American and South African citzens have strong interests in complementary and alternative medicine practices, but little is known of their safety and effectiveness," said Bill Folk, senior associate dean for research in the School of Medicine, principal investigator of the grant and co-director of TICIPS.
Folk and U.S. research teams from MU, University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC), Missouri Botanical Garden, University of Texas and Georgetown University will partner with Quinton Johnson, director of the South African Herbal Science and Medicine Institute and co-director of TICIPS at the University of the Western Cape, University of Cape Town, University of Kwazulu-Natal (UKZ-N) in South Africa, and South African traditional healers.
Together, they will study the medicinal properties, safety and effectiveness of several African plants in use today by traditional healers.
One of those projects, led by Kathy Goggin of UMKC and Doug Wilson of UKZ-N, will investigate whether Sutherlandia, or Lessertia frutescens, is safe in HIV-infected patients and prevents wasting.
"Working with the MU School of Journalism and colleagues at the University of the Western Cape will ensure that our findings about the safety of these plants are distributed among the public, not only in South Africa, but throughout the world.
Also, we enjoy a very strong partnership with the Missouri Botanical Garden, one of the world's outstanding botanical centers.
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