NCCIH T32 Training Grant

This grant supports the education of the next generation of scientists responsible for establishing the safety and efficacy of dietary supplements and for the discovery of new therapeutic agents from natural product sources. Heading link

The T32 Training Grant, “Research Training in Natural Product Complementary and Integrative Health” supports six predoctoral trainees working towards a Ph.D. in natural products research in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences. Funded by the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) of the NIH, the main scope of this grant is to train the next generation of scientists to have the knowledge and skills required for the discovery of new therapeutic agents from natural product sources and the establishment of safety and efficacy of widely used dietary supplements and natural product-derived drugs. This training award thereby enriches a legacy core mission of the UIC College of Pharmacy, housing the Pharmacognosy Institute (PHCI) and other NIH-funded Research Centers in the College of Pharmacy. The PHCI evolved from the UIC Botanical Center (P50AT00155, 1999-2022) and integrates UIC hallmark programs in pharmacognosy (“Pcog”) and adjacent the natural products sciences, such as the Program for Collaborative Research in the Pharmaceutical Sciences (PCRPS) established in 1984.

This training program is the result of a long history of natural products research in the College, stemming from the establishment of the UIC/NIH Center for Botanical Dietary Supplements Research in 1999, the longest continuously NIH-supported Botanical Center. Founded by Prof. Norman Farnsworth, and later directed by Prof. Guido Pauli, the Center focused on evaluating the safety and efficacy of botanical dietary supplements used by women as alternatives to hormone therapy at menopause. The UIC Botanical Center has been a focus of graduate and postgraduate education in natural products research, preparing pre- and post-doctoral trainees to assume leadership positions in academia, industry, and government in the United States and internationally. Training young scientists for careers in natural products research was a core mission of the Botanical Center and is for this T32 Training Grant. Trainees must be citizens or non-citizen nationals of the United States or have been lawfully admitted for permanent residence at the time of appointment.