On Monday, October 30, 2023, Prof. Namrita Lall, Professor and Research Chair, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa, delivered a Research Seminar to faculty and Master in Drug Discovery and Development students. The seminar was titled “Get Instant Gratification from Innovative Active Ingredients for Cosmetics and Pharmaceuticals”.
Prof. Lall has been placed in the Essential Science Indicators list of the top 1% of publication outputs in the discipline Pharmacology and Toxicology. She has been listed in the Stanford’s University List of the Top 2% Scientist of the World. Six start-up companies resulted from Prof Lall’s research program.
Prof. Lall emphasized the untouched potential of medicinal plants for developing new therapies and the need to overcome various hurdles. The seminar covered the entire process of natural product development, starting from problem identification and plant selection to safety testing, formulation, and optimization of novel therapeutics. Prof. Lall focused on the steps for Ethical considerations, such as Benefit Sharing Agreements, Material Transfer Agreements, and Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) Policies to preserve traditional knowledge.
The seminar was concluded with a thorough discussion with attendees about the potential implications of herbals for future research.