The American Botanical Council (ABC), Austin, TX, has named Professor Harry H.S. Fong, PhD, as the recipient of the ABC Norman R. Farnsworth Excellence in Botanical Research Award for 2014. Dr. Fong is professor emeritus of pharmacognosy in the Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacognosy at the University of Illinois – Chicago (UIC).
 
ABC presents this award each year to a person who or an institution that has made significant contributions to ethnobotanical and/or pharmacognostic research (i.e., research on drugs of natural origin, usually from plants).
 
Throughout his long career in academia, Dr. Fong has focused his research efforts on collaborative drug discovery from plants, particularly those with active anti-tumor, cancer chemopreventative, anti-malarial, and anti-tuberculosis activities. Dr. Fong also has been dedicated to the quality, analysis, and standardization of herbal medicines and botanical dietary supplements worldwide, collaborating with the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Traditional and Complementary Medicine Programme for 30 years. He also collaborated with the Hong Kong Health Department on developing its pharmacopeial quality standards for Chinese herbal materials commercially available in the region.
 
To date, Dr. Fong has authored more than 270 scientific journal articles, co-authored nine book chapters, and edited 16 scientific publications, including multiple WHO medicinal plant monographs.


 
“Harry Fong has made many significant contributions in the fields of drug discovery from botanical materials, the quality control of botanical dietary supplements and traditional herbal medicines, and in setting standards for herbal medicines worldwide,” said ABC chief science officer, Stefan Gafner, PhD. “He is internationally recognized as an expert in herbal medicine and one of the most highly regarded pharmacognosists of our time.”