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Welcome to the Drugs from Natural Sources Focus Group

The Focus Group provides a network of researchers interested in the field of drugs from natural sources and we want to facilitate not only an exchange of knowledge within the pharmaceutical sciences, but also beyond in areas like biology, chemistry and ecology. We welcome anyone interested in the field.

Who We Are

We cover all aspects of research into ‘drugs from natural sources’, most importantly medicinal plants, but also fungi and marine organisms. This is globally a very important field of research and its importance has also been highlighted by the award of the 2015 Nobel Prize to Youyou Tu for the discovery of artemisinin and William C. Campbell and Satoshi Ōmura for their discoveries of a novel treatment of roundworm parasites – avermectin from Gram-positive soil bacteria. While not too many groups are active in the UK, we are part of a very active global network and these linkages are of importance both for industry and academia.

What We Do

The APS Focus Group participates in an annual symposium at the UCL School of Pharmacy which is held in the second week of October and is organised by the UCL society ‘Spices and Medicines’.

We organise symposia both in the area of drug development and herbal medicines research and practice.

Our Events

2024 Annual Spices Symposium and UCL Frank Fish Lecture

21 February 2024
John Hanbury Lecture Theatre, UCL School of Pharmacy, London, UK

We were thrilled to be part of this fantastic event. UCL Spices and Medicine is an interdisciplinary UCL initiative that aims to showcase research relating to the interface between food, medicine, and culture to the present day and its relevance across different academic fields, and to foster collaborations with institutions and communities interested in exploring botanical traditions.

Hot Scientific Topics

  • Metabolomics in medicinal plant research

 

  • Anti-infective and anti-parasitic agents

 

  • Herbal medicine

 

  • Marine neutral products

Meet the Group

Focus Group Leads

Michael Heinrich
Focus Group Co-Leader

                click to read bio

Sukinder Bhamra
Focus Group Co-Leader

                click to read bio

Why you should get involved

Small is beautiful. While we are a small network there are many opportunities to develop collaborations and we are keen to support young researchers in their needs. The APS Focus groups participates in an annual symposium at the UCL School of Pharmacy which is organised by the UCL society ‘Spices and Medicines’ read more.
We organise symposia both in the area of drug development and herbal medicines research and practice.

In 2023 we are organising a session at the PharmSci International Conference 2023 in Reading
(Tue 5th September -September 7th, 2023): ‘

Drug discover from Nature – Translational innovations for new anti-cancer and anti-protozoal agents?’

There also will be some shorter events and members will actively contribute to the major annual congress of the field, held in from 02.05. July in Dublin, Ireland the 71st International Congress and Annual Meeting of the Society for Medicinal Plant and Natural Product Research (GA) (https://www.gadublin2023.com/)
If you have an interest in the natural products and would like to contribute to the planning and delivery of our meetings then
get in touch. It is a great opportunity to network with scientists who share your interests.