With an endless stream of traffic winding its way through a dense city populated with outcroppings of ancient ruins, Athens, Greece, was the backdrop for the 7th Joint Meeting of The American Society of Pharmacognosy (ASP) from August 3 – 8, 2008. The meeting brought together nearly 1,200 scientists and students from Europe, Asia, and the U.S.
(Captions: Carrie Waterman PhD PhCog'11 is recognized by Dr. Robert Krueger of Ferris State University with the Travel Grant from The American Society of Pharmacognosy. Dr. Ara DerMarderosian takes in the sights of Athens. "It's an old USP professor visiting old Grecian ruins," he quipped.)
Among the attendees was graduate student Carrie Waterman PhD PhCog'11. Waterman, who is advised by Dr. Ara DerMarderosian, presented her poster “Bioassay-guided isolation of African ethnobotanical anthelmintics.” She was there in large part due to a national travel award from the ASP which she obtained in conjunction with a grant writing class (see July 2008 Inside USP). The rest of her trip was made possible by an Abraham Glasser Fellowship and support from the College of Graduate Studies.
“It was a little bit culture and a little bit science,” Waterman said of her overall experience.
Dr. DerMarderosian, also on hand in Greece, presented two posters by his other graduate students Vidhanchandra Jaiswal PhD PhCog'08 on pomegranate anthocyanins and Radhika Kota PhD PhCog'08, on bioactive principles in blueberry. University faculty, including Dr. John Porter, Dr. Guillermo Moyna, Dr. Diane Morel, Dr. James McKee and Professor Robert Smith, were coauthors on one or more of these posters and abstracts which were published in the international journal Planta Medica.
In addition to presentations, papers, and posters, Waterman and Dr. DerMarderosian enjoyed a taste of Greek life, including a performance by a Greek village dance group and visits to such local attractions as the Acropolis and Parthenon. The final day included a sea excursion to three Greek Islands.