Navigation Menu |
Website Home of the Nature-ceuticals Symposium to be held on June 14 - 15, 2008 Albany College of Pharmacy 106 New Scotland Avenue Albany, New York
Theme of the Symposium Bridging the Science and the Clinical Practice of Natural Products To bring together members from the many disciplines that deal with natural products for the exchange of information with a view towards enhancing evidence-based utilization in the healthcare setting.
To register for the Symposium or submit abstracts for presentation, please use the links provided in the menu on the left hand side of this page.
Introduction Evidence of natural products being used to treat medical conditions date back to the beginnings of recorded history. Thus, through out the world, there is a long and rich history of natural product usage. Today there are many scientific disciplines that deal with these medicines from Nature. However, it is still difficult for the average Western clinician (MD, PharmD, RN, DDS, DVM, etc.) to obtain sufficient information to understand the role of such substances in their clinical practice. The rationale behind this symposium is to bring together members from the many disciplines that deal with natural products for the exchange of information with a view towards utilization in the healthcare setting. The title of the symposium was coined to highlight the unique theme of the meeting. Herbals, natural products, nutraceuticals, phytomedicinals along other terms have been used to describe this field. However, each term has a historical context and set of assumptions and the Organizing Committee wanted to approach the issues from a fresh perspective. The inaugural Nature-ceuticals Symposium, scheduled for the weekend of June 14-15, 2008 was underwritten by a grant from Maruzen Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd. of Onomichi City, Hiroshima, Japan The Nature-ceuticals Symposium will lead off with keynote speaker David M. Eisenberg, M.D. Dr. Eisenberg is the Bernard Osher Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and director of the Division of Research and Education in Complementary and Integrative Medicine. In 1979, under the auspices of the National Academy of Sciences, he was the first medical exchange student from the United States to travel to the People’s Republic of China. In 1993, he was the medical advisor to the PBS series “Healing and the Mind” with Bill Moyers and has been a featured guest on “Frontline.” More recently, Dr. Eisenberg has served as an advisor to the National Institutes of Health, the Food and Drug Administration and the Federation of State Medical Boards with regard to complementary, alternative, and integrative medicine research, education and policy. As a special cultural feature there will also be a lecture and demonstration on the Japanese tea ceremony by headmaster of the Ueda Soko school of tea scheduled for Saturday evening June 14th, 2008. On Sunday morning, Master Ueda will perform the tea ceremony for a select group of Symposium participants. After that, anyone interested will be able to sample the powdered green tea (or matcha in Japanese) and experience a simple tea ceremony. This particular school or style of Tea ceremony is over 350 years old and is unique to the Hiroshima region of Japan. This will be the first time Ueda, Sokei (the current headmaster or O-Iemoto in Japanese) will be presenting his style in America. The preparation and serving of powdered green tea was originally used primarily for medicinal purposes. However, over the centuries, the tea ceremony (or cha-no-yu in Japanese) became integrated with methods of meditation and aspects of Zen Buddhism. Thus, the tea ceremony as practiced today is considered to be not only healthful but also an excellent way of calming and centering one’s self. It is truly a holistic activity which should act as complement to the scientific and clinical aspects of the symposium. |