Past projects (sponsored by international institutes/organizations and carried out in collaboration with local/foreign universities) resulted in the identification and characterization of new antiparasitic agents, including new therapeutic chemotypes with potentials for the treatment of drug resistant malaria (8), cutaneous and visceral leishmaniasis (9) and African trypanosomiasis. The unique characteristic of the projects is that by examining a limited number of carefully selected leads based on traditional use of the herbs, in nearly every case, the biological evaluation agreed with the traditional medical use. The final selection of drugs to be developed was therefore dependent not only on results of laboratory experiments but also on the accumulated acknowledge of local healers. Another important aspect of these projects is the task management approach which fostered a productive interaction between scientists from West Africa and their U.S.A. counterparts.

InterCEDD with Bioresources Development and Conservation Programme (BDCP) has developed databases of African Medicinal plants including AfricMed, an inventory of plants used in traditional medicine in West and Central Africa and epidemiological surveys of the use of these plants. We have also developed a database of ecological information of biological resources (BioMon) in collaboration with the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC, which seeks to provide critical information on the habitat and growth requirements of any target biome, and a relational database – Computerized Information System on African Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (CISAMAP). CISAMAP is based at InterCEDD Nsukka. A major component of the later project is the production of primers and fact sheets on herbal remedies targeted to both practitioners and end-users.

InterCEDD has teamed up with the Central Africa Regional Program for Environment (CARPE) in the evaluation of phytomedicine development as an economic incentive for biodiversity conservation in Cameroon. Other collaborative efforts include the African Scientific Co-operation on Phytomedicine and Aromatic Plants (ASCOPAP) whose mission was to promote and facilitate the research, development and commercialization of safe, efficient, affordable, standardized phytomedicines based on sustainable utilization of African plant resources; collaboration with Water Raid Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) emerged from convergence in the strategy program for development of new drugs on tropical diseases in which ICBG retained the intellectual rights from the projects. Other institutions/organizations include UNIDO/ICS, The Smithsonian Institution, Axxon Biopharm Inc.

InterCEDD has a proven track record in collaborative research with national and International institutions. Through our strategic business alliance, we have pooled resource with some of the leading laboratory and organizations in the world. Our research capability is constantly strengthened through our research fellowships, which attracts world-class scientists. InterCEDD is always open to collaboration.

BioTRADE

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SPONSORSHIP
The International Centre for Ethnomedicine and Drug Development ( InterCEDD ) needs to build a frame where researchers will find facilities to carry out their work. This will enable the institution to contribute (through the results of the different research programs) to the development of science. The support from the Bioresource Development and Conservation Programme (BDCP) is not enough for the institution to achieve that goal. It is only by sponsorship from scientific organizations, that young scientists will for instance be assured of their stipend while benefiting from the centers fellowship programmes. InterCEDD has various projects designed to contribute to the search for solutions to health problems of our populations, in the sense that the active principles would be used as makers in the standardized phytomedicines against infectious diseases.

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