Natural Products Committee
What we do
The Natural Products Section of IUPHAR brings together international experts in the pharmacology of natural products and traditional medicines.
The Section promotes high-quality research aimed at understanding pharmacological actions and mechanisms, identifying active compounds, and supporting evidence-based applications. It also fosters dialogue and collaboration between academia, industry, and the wider scientific community, while actively supporting education and knowledge exchange, with a strong focus on early-career researchers.
What we do
The Natural Products Section of IUPHAR brings together international experts in the pharmacology of natural products and traditional medicines.
The Section promotes high-quality research aimed at understanding pharmacological actions and mechanisms, identifying active compounds, and supporting evidence-based applications. It also fosters dialogue and collaboration between academia, industry, and the wider scientific community, while actively supporting education and knowledge exchange, with a strong focus on early-career researchers.
Our objectives
- Raise awareness of the importance of natural health products for human health and encourage new approaches to study their use, efficacy, and safety.
- Promote the exchange of scientific information through newsletters, meetings, and symposia at major international events.
- Stimulate research in standardization, mechanisms of action, and links between basic and clinical studies.
- Foster collaboration between modern scientists and traditional medicine practitioners (e.g., Traditional Chinese, Ayurvedic, Arabo-Muslim systems) and support high standards in ethnopharmacology.
- Prioritize product quality by advocating for botanical identification, phytochemical characterization, and standardized research guidelines to ensure reliable and evidence-based results.
- Support and encourage young investigators to participate in IUPHAR and natural health product meetings.
- Advance pharmacology of natural health products worldwide, especially in developing regions where these products are widely used but research resources may be limited.
