Episode 130: The Plant Hunter - Botanicals and the Future of Skin Health

Learn Skin with Dr. Raja and Dr. Hadar

Need to catch up on cutting edge botanical research? We can help with that. This week, we’re joined by ethnobotanist and professor of dermatology Dr. Cassandra Quave. She’ll dive into the impact of biodiversity in botanical research, botanical impacts on the microbiome and skin disease, and just how unique plants really can be. Each Thursday, join Dr. Raja and Dr. Hadar, board certified dermatologists, as they share the latest evidence based research in integrative dermatology. For access to CE/CME courses, become a member at LearnSkin.com. Cassandra L. Quave, PhD is Curator of the Herbarium and Associate Professor of Dermatology and Human Health at Emory University, where she leads anti-infective drug discovery research initiatives and teaches courses on medicinal plants, natural products, microbiology, and pharmacology. As a medical ethnobotanist, her work focuses on the documentation and pharmacological evaluation of plants used in traditional medicine. Dr. Quave’s research is supported by the National Institute of Health, industry contracts, and philanthropy. She is a Fellow of the Explorers Club, a past President of the Society for Economic Botany, a recipient of the Emory Williams Teaching Award, Charles Heiser, Jr. Mentor Award, American Botanical Council James. A. Duke Excellence in Botanical Literature Award, and American Herbal Products Association Herbal Insight Award. She serves on the Board of Directors for the Society for Investigative Dermatology and editorial boards for Natural Product Reports, Scientific Reports, and Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, and is an associate editor for Frontiers in Pharmacology. Beyond her academic research and teaching activities, Dr. Quave dedicates significant effort to scientific outreach and engagement with the public. She is the co-creator and host of “Foodie Pharmacology,” a podcast dedicated to exploring the links between food and medicine, now in its fourth season. She is the creator and host of the “Teach Ethnobotany” channel on YouTube, which is dedicated to sharing educational videos about botanicals, pharmacology, and natural products. Dr. Quave has authored more than 100 scientific publications, two edited books, twenty book chapters, and seven patents; her work has been cited in the scientific literature more than 5,000 times. Her research has been the subject of feature profiles in the New York Times Magazine, BBC Science Focus, National Geographic Magazine, NPR, PBS, and the National Geographic Channel. She has written opinion essays for The Wall Street Journal and The Conversation. She is author of an acclaimed science memoir The Plant Hunter: A Scientist’s Quest for Nature’s Next Medicines. To learn more about botanicals and dermatology, attend Dr. Quave's lecture at the 2022 Integrative Dermatology Symposium.