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NCNPR celebrates 20th anniversary

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NCNPR celebrates 20th anniversary

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From a modest beginning, the National Center for Natural Products Research has grown significantly over the past two decades.

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ince 1995, the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy’s inaugural research center has been setting the bar in such areas as natural products chemistry, botanical supplements development and marijuana research.

“We’re delighted to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the National Center for Natural Products Research this year,” said Larry A. Walker, the center’s director. “This is a wonderful opportunity to reflect on our growth and successes over the past two decades.”

The NCNPR was created to discover, develop and commercialize natural products as pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals. It is the only university-affiliated research center devoted to improving human health and agricultural productivity through the discovery, development and commercialization of pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals derived from natural products.

The center has grown significantly since its modest beginning. Organized under the umbrella of the pharmacy school’s Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, the NCNPR was authorized formally by federal legislation sponsored by Sen. Thad Cochran in 1988, and it began operations in 1995.

A group of key people joined forces to create the center. That group included James McChesney, former chair and professor of pharmacognosy, who conceptualized the center; Kenneth Roberts, dean emeritus of the pharmacy school; former Chancellor Gerald Turner; and representatives of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, including the late Horace Cutler.

“When we first occupied the north half of our building in 1995, I think we had 24 total people at that time,” Walker said. “I remember being uncertain about exactly how we would put together the funding pieces and grow the program. We had a few small grants and a number of great ideas, but we were definitely breaking new ground.”

Alice M. Clark, the university’s vice chancellor for research and sponsored programs, was named the center’s first director in 1996. Working with Walker, who was then associate director, Clark visualized the center’s infrastructure and began building the program from scratch.

Clark said the center’s early achievements fell into two categories, the first being research discoveries that advanced the science of medicinal plants and drug discovery and development. The second were strategic advancements that led to new partnerships and growth.

“On a very basic level, our earliest goals were to put the people and resources in place to make scientific advancements that would lead to key strategic and sustainable partnerships,” Clark said. “On a larger level, the goal was to bring to life the center’s mission. A key factor in achieving this was the ability to leverage the faculty in the academic departments in the School of Pharmacy, and the support of these faculty members was essential.”

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Larry A. Walker, director of the NCNPR, and Alice M. Clark, vice chancellor for research and sponsored programs and former NCNPR director, celebrate the center’s anniversary at a picnic in September.

The school’s departments were instrumental in developing the NCNPR. The pharmacognosy department moved its screening program and nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometers to the center, while the medicinal chemistry department relocated its molecular modeling and laboratory of drug design there.

“There were some very significant people in the departments who bought into the idea of the center,” said Charles D. Hufford, associate dean emeritus. “They helped us get the programs going.”

The USDA’s Agricultural Research Service moved its Natural Products Utilization Research Unit to the center in 1996. Stephen O. Duke was named research leader of the unit.

“Over the years, university and USDA scientists of the NCNPR have synergized each other’s research in many ways,” Duke said. “This close partnership has enabled new avenues of highly successful research for both groups.”

The formalization of the previously established partnership was a major step for the center that paved the way for other federal collaborations.

“The center’s partnerships have resulted in many joint projects, publications, patents, technologies and knowledge that have advanced science and informed policy and consumer decisions,” Clark said. “And strategically, they have helped establish an environment that has led to the development of additional strong, productive collaborations.”

In the late ’90s, the pharmacy school’s marijuana project fell under the purview of the NCNPR. Since 1968, the school has been the sole supplier of marijuana and its constituents for research purposes in the U.S. The project is funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, under Contract No. HHSN271201500023C, and is one of the longest-running projects sponsored by the agency.

Clark recalled a moment in the late ’90s when she realized that the center was truly fulfilling its goal.

“We were hosting visitors from the relatively new National Institutes of Health Office of Dietary Supplements,” she said. “We were meeting in Room 1018, and it occurred to me in that moment, when they were seeking our advice on issues relevant at the national level, that we had, indeed, achieved the level of national impact that we originally envisioned for the center.”

In 2001, Walker was named director. That year, the center launched its partnership with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. It formally recognized the Center of Excellence for Botanical Dietary Supplement Research in 2006.

“The Center of Excellence has accomplished a great deal since its creation,” said Ikhlas A. Khan, director of the COE and associate director of the NCNPR. “We established a repository focused on medicinal plants and a ‘living collection’ of botanicals. We have also contributed research that has helped the FDA to make regulatory decisions.”

Training of FDA field inspectors is an important part of the COE. Multiple times per year, trainees attend a workshop at the NCNPR that teaches about approaches toward verifying identity and quality of botanical supplements. The workshop includes a trip to the center’s medicinal plant garden, where participants can see living botanicals. To date, the program has trained more than 600 inspectors.

The COE has assumed a leadership role in bringing together experts from around the world to discuss issues related to medicinal plants and dietary supplements. In 2001, the NCNPR hosted the first International Conference on the Science of Botanicals. The annual conference has been instrumental in facilitating conversation related to botanicals among scientists, industry leaders and other interested parties.

The expertise that has developed within the center is unmatched.

“We have many special areas where we have a lot of knowledge, like in antifungal natural products, authentication of botanical supplements, research on developing drugs from marijuana and research on the pharmacology of antimalarial drugs,” Walker said. “We have great resources with our repository and screening program. I would say that we likely have the largest critical mass of people in our discipline.”

One example of the center’s specialized knowledge is in the area of immunostimulants. David Pasco, NCNPR associate director, has worked extensively with a microalgae called spirulina that has been shown to boost the immune system when taken as an extract.

“We’ve found that the extract has an impact on joint pain and even skin elasticity,” Pasco said. “We hope to further investigate spirulina to see if it could support immune function in patients who are undergoing chemotherapy treatment.”

Today, with more than 100 people on staff including USDA employees, the center’s influence on natural products research can be felt near and far. That influence begins with the people the NCNPR has trained, Walker said.

“I believe we’ve made an enormous impact in a global sense by training people in natural products chemistry and giving them experiences in the field,” Walker said. “These people are now working in industry, at the FDA and at universities all over the world. We have a kind of legacy from that, and it’s amplified because these people tell others about us.”

The center has elevated the state of Mississippi in multiple ways, Clark said.

“We are seen as experts by people from every region, and that is a significant accomplishment that shines a very positive light on our state,” she said. “Also affecting Mississippi, the center has been a major job creator, and because many of the jobs are funded by sources outside of Mississippi, dollars from outside of the state are reaching the local and state economies.”

David D. Allen, the pharmacy school’s dean and executive director of RIPS, applauded Clark and Walker for their leadership.

“[Clark and Walker] have championed the center over the years and led it to great success,” Allen said. “There are many reasons why I came to the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy – one of them was undoubtedly the prestige of the National Center for Natural Products Research.”

Walker credited his team-oriented colleagues for the center’s many successes.

“The work that we do is not about people building their own careers; it’s about what we as pharmacists, biologists, chemists, etc., can do together to have an effect on health care or agriculture,” he said. “I think we have a sense of family here and a real team approach.”

From investigating marine natural products to developing FDA-approved botanical drugs, there is much to learn and discover, he said.

“Broadly speaking, I think the most exciting thing is the potential that natural products have for influencing human health in the post-genomic era,” he said. “With our new understanding of the human genome and its expression, and of the complex signaling pathways that regulate it, we are finding new and exciting ways that natural products can prevent and treat disease.

“We used to think we were going to just design a drug, hit a certain target and cure the corresponding disease. Now we know – at least in many diseases like cancer and infectious diseases – that it’s not that simple. You have to take a broader approach. I think this is an area where natural products can play a role, and we’re in a great position to make substantial contributions.”

Clark agreed that the future is bright for the NCNPR.

“The center will achieve more than I can envision,” she said. “I know that because I know that 20 years ago I could never have imagined all that has happened and been accomplished during these past two decades. Whatever the future accomplishments will be, I believe that they will continue to surprise us and surpass any expectations we could set today.”

NCNPR Milestones

  • The NCNPR was authorized by Congress in 1988 and began operations in July 1995.
  • Alice M. Clark was named director of the center in fall 1996, giving the national research center its first permanent director. Larry A. Walker became director in 2001.
  • In fall 1996, the south sections of the second and third floors of the center were completed, and the space was occupied.
  • In October 1996, the U.S. Department of Agriculture – Agricultural Research Service’s Natural Products Utilization Research Unit began its work at the center. The partnership has produced numerous joint projects, publications and patents for the development and application of natural products for pharmaceutical and agricultural uses.
  • The center’s partnership with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration launched in 2001. The partnership focuses on the development of standards for a broad range of herbal products commonly used in dietary supplements.
  • In 2001, the inaugural International Conference on the Science of Botanicals was held. The annual event brings together scientists from around the world to discuss issues related to medicinal plants and dietary supplements.
  • On Sept. 23, 2005, the NCNPR celebrated its 10th anniversary. Sen. Thad Cochran delivered the keynote address.
  • Planning for a new addition to the Thad Cochran Research Center began in 2005. Health Resources and Services Administration funding made planning of the new addition possible. The 250-seat auditorium expansion was completed by summer 2008.
  • In 2006, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration established the Center of Excellence on Botanical Dietary Supplement Research.
  • A new facility for the Maynard W. Quimby Medicinal Plant Garden was constructed, starting in 2009. The facility was dedicated in 2012.
  • The center hosted the American Society of Pharmacognosy’s annual meeting in 2014.
  • The Thad Cochran Research Center West Wing was dedicated in 2015. The building, which completes the two-building National Center for Natural Products Research complex, allows researchers to advance their drug discoveries to the commercialization stage. It is one of the most advanced facilities in the region.
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