The 50th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Pharmacognosy

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Pharmacognosy has played a pivotal role in the discovery of new medicines for the treatment of the many forms of cancer and a wide variety of other human diseases. Among the important natural products which are in use in the clinic or which are investigational drugs are taxol, etoposide, topotecan/irinotecan, the halichondrin analog E7389, dolastatin derivatives, the anthracyclines and the epothilones, to mention a few. Natural products research continues to be an exciting and promising avenue for the discovery of new therapies and is a very active field worldwide. For 50 years, the American Society of Pharmacognosy (ASP) has been one of the premier scientific societies dedicated to all aspects of natural products research. The ASP Annual Meetings are an outstanding venue for presentation of the most cutting-edge discoveries by the leading researchers in the field. The 2009 ASP Annual Meeting, in celebration of our half-century of existence, is planned to be held in Hawaii - this location will attract many colleagues from Pacific Rim countries, where research and development in pharmacognosy is very active. The meeting attendance is expected to be approximately 750 (about 50% more than a typical ASP meeting), including ~300 students and postdocs. Ten world-class speakers will be invited to speak on their most current results on topics which include plant and marine natural products, microbial genomics and ethnobotany. In addition, contributed oral presentations will allow up to 60 other colleagues to present current work on a broad range of topics, including Antitumor Natural Products/Cancer Chemoprevention, Modern Analytical Techniques, Botanicals/Dietary Supplements/Phytomedicines, Diabetes, Digestive and Kidney Diseases (Session in honor of John Daly), Marine Natural Products, and Infectious and Tropical diseases. Approximately 500 contributed posters will provide a strong depth of coverage of additional topics. Students and postdocs have ample opportunity to present their work as contributed papers in ASP meetings. The organizing committee will make every attempt to attract women and underrepresented minorities to our meeting, and to participate in the organization process. The meeting venue, the Sheraton Waikiki, is in ADA compliance, and any attendees requesting special needs will be accommodated. The overarching goal of the meeting will be to highlight the major advances in the field of natural products chemistry and contributions to human health, as well as to look towards the future role of pharmacognosy to continue to find new cures and therapies. This is consistent with the mission of the NIH, and makes this meeting highly relevant to several Institutes. Public Health Relevance: This meeting will bring together scientists involved in natural product research and drug discovery targeting a broad selection of therapeutic areas. It will advance NIH's human health goals through the exchange of scientific information and the fostering of collaborations in drug discovery.