Research Projects

2009-present, Post Doctoral Research

Antibiofilm properties of natural products from medicinal plants of Italy

My post doctoral fellowship began at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in January 2009 under the mentorship of Dr. Mark Smeltzer, a microbiologist with expertise in staphylococcal pathogenesis, and Dr. Cesar Compadre, a pharmacognosist with expertise in molecular modeling. The fellowship is supported by a National Institute of Health (NIH) NCCAM National Research Service Award (F32) - see the CRISP link to abstract. The aim of this project is to assess the efficacy of certain plant extracts in the context of treating and/or preventing staphylococcal biofilm-associated infection. Bioassay-guided fractionation techniques are being employed as a tool in the isolation of the active constituents.

2003-2008, Lucania, southern Italy

Doctoral Research Project

An Ethnopharmacological Approach to Multidrug-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus:
Evaluation of Italian Plants used in the Traditional Healing of Skin Disease

The field research for my doctoral dissertation project began in April 2006 in the Vulture-Alto Bradano Region of Lucania, south Italy. This study was funded through a National Institute of Health (NIH) NCCAM National Research Service Award (F31 and T32), a Botany in Action Fellowship, Ann Chatham Fellowship (Garden Club of America) and a USDA Agroecology Scholarship for field research. See Doctoral Research to view the proposal abstract and updates on the progress of this project. See Ethnobotany of Italy for photos of plants being studied.

2001-2003, Lucania, southern Italy

Wild food plants, medicinal foods, ethnopharmacy and ritual healing among historical Albanians and south-Italians in Lucania (in a comparative perspective), and the evaluation of the nutraceutical potential of traditionally consumed non-cultivated vegetables

These field studies were conducted together with Dr. Andrea Pieroni (center picture), Dr. Sabine Nebel, Dr. Harald Münz and Dr. Maria Elena Giusti. Funding sources for the project included a 2-year Mars Nutritional Research Council Awardship (assigned to A. Pieroni), a 3-year EU-funded research consortium coordinated by Dr. Michael Heinrich (University of London School of Pharmacy), a 2-year Bennigsen-Price grant of the Ministry of Science of the Land North-Rhine Westphalia, Germany (assigned to H. Münz), a National Kappa Alpha Theta Foundation grant (assigned to C. Quave), and a Foundation for Science and Disability Award (assigned to C.Quave). See Publications for a list of our recent publications relating to this field study. See Ethnobotany of Italy for images and information regarding medicinal and food plants from this study.

1999-2000, Río Napo, Tamanco Jurisdiction, Peruvian Amazon

Medicinal plants, ethnopharmacy, and the use of traditional medicines for the treatment of childhood helminthiasis among Yagua, Maijuna, and ribereño communities in the Tamanco Jurisdiction of the Napo River basin

This field study was funded by the Emory College International Scholars Program. A portion of this project was conducted together with a local shaman, Don Antonio Montero Pisco (center picture) at the ethnobotanical garden of the Amazon Center for Environmental Education and Research (ACEER) research camp. This undergraduate research project was supervised by Dr. Larry Wilson (Fernbank Museum of Natural History), Dr. Peter Brown (Emory University, Professor of Anthropology) and Dr. Michelle Lampl (Emory University, Professor of Anthropology). See the PDF Plants and Pills: Health Consequences of Western Medicine in the Peruvian Amazon for a paper that I wrote on the paradigm of modern versus traditional medicine as it pertains to childhood helminthiasis in the region.