A Collaborative
Program Between the University of Illinois at Chicago and the Traditional
Medicine Research Center of Laos in the Study of Lao Medical Plants
Djaja D. Soejarto*,**,
Bounhong Southavong***, Kongmany Sydara***,
Somsanith Bouamanivong***, Mary C. Riley*,
Amey Libman*, Marian R. Kadushin**,
Charlotte Gyllenhaal*
*Program for Collaborative Research in
the Pharmaceutical Sciences (PCRPS), College of Pharmacy, University of Illinois
at Chicago, 833 S. Wood St., Chicago, IL 60612 and **Department
of Botany, Field Museum, 1400 S. Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, IL 60605, USA
***Traditional Medicine Research
Center, Ministry of Health, Vientiane, Lao People's Democratic Republic
ABSTRACT
In 1996, the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) initiated an informal
scientific cooperation in the study of medicinal plants of Laos with the
Traditional Medicine Research Center (TMRC), Vientiane. This cooperation was
strengthened in 1998, when TMRC joined the UIC-based International Cooperative
Biodiversity Group (ICBG) consortium to undertake "Studies on Biodiversity of
Vietnam and Laos". The ICBG is a program administered by the Fogarty
International Center, through funds from the National Institutes of Health (NIH),
the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the Foreign Agricultural Service of
the United States Department of Agriculture (FAS USDA). The ICBG Program is an
experiment by the US government in the implementation of the terms of the United
Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), whereby researchers in
developed countries collaborate in the studies of the biological diversity of
biodiversity-rich countries, sharing the benefits in the process and, in the
event of the commercialization of a product(s), in an equitable manner. As a
member of the UIC-based ICBG consortium, TMRC has been able to strengthen its
human and institutional resources, to allow this institution to (1) establish
the Lao Biodiversity Fund (LBF), (2) continue to provide infrastructure support
to communities throughout Laos, (3) continue country-wide survey to inventory
Lao medicinal plants through interviews with village healers and members of the
communities at large, (4) establish a Lao Medicinal Plant Database in
conjunction with the strengthening of its herbarium collection holding as a
material documentation, (5) develop education outreach programs at the village
level, (6) inventory and protect Lao traditional medicinal knowledge, (7)
establish a Medicinal Plant Preserve (in situ medicinal plant conservation
site), and (8) continue collaboration in the laboratory analysis and bioassay of
medicinal plants collected in Laos. Support of NIH Grant 1 UO1 TW01015 01,
1998-2003, is gratefully acknowledged.