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| Participants |
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Professor Berit Smestad Paulsen - leader of the project b.s.paulsen@farmasi.uio.no
She has a PhD in Organic Chemistry from Royal Holloway College, University of London, UK, in 1972. The focus of the thesis was structure and biosynthesis of algal polysaccharides.
After returning to School of Pharmacy, the focus has been on both low and high molecular weight compounds from plants of pharmaceutical and medicinal interest. This has involved studies on poppy alkaloids, carbohydrate containing allergens and bio active polysaccharides from both algae, fungi and land plants, the latter primarily on plants containing polysaccharides that may have an effect on the immunesystem. Focus now is on Malian and South African plants having a use that indicate that the immunesystem is involved, amongst these against both internal and external wounds and also as immunostimulants e.g. being used by HIV/AIDs patients. One of the goals is to pinpoint the bio active sites of the polysaccharides, as well as produce knowledge on the polysaccharides so that can form a part of registered Improved Traditional medicines in Mali. These studies also involve collaboration with research groups at Med.Fak. UiO as well as groups in UK, China, Mongolia and Iceland.
Berit Smestad is professor in Pharmacognosy at school of Pharmacy, University of Oslo, and has published more than 150 articles in international scientific journals. |
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Drissa Diallo was born in the village Blendio, Sikasso region, Mali, in 1956. He obtained his M. Pharm from the University of Mali, Bamako, in 1982, and his PhD at Schools of Pharmacy, Lausanne, Switzerland in a collaboration with the University of Oslo, Norway, in 2000. Drissa Diallo had various positions at Department of Traditional Medicine, Bamako, and became Head of the department in 2001, a position he still has. In 2001 Diallo became assistant professor in pharmacology at the Faculty of Medicine, Pharmacy and Odonto-Stomatology, University of Bamako, and was promoted to professor in 2004. In 2006 he was elected Vice Dean of the same Faculty and also obtained Price Galien of Research in Mali in 2006. Drissa Diallo is member of a variety of international organizations within the area of medicinal plants, member of the Regional Experts Committee of WHO/Africa, member of the scientific committee for the Intellectual Property rights related to knowledge on the traditional use of medicinal plants (OAPI) as well as a member of the Expert Committee of Intellectual Property Right of African Organization of Intellectual Property rights. Diallo is supervising between 5 and 10 pharmacy master students specializing in pharmacology every year. |
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He has a PhD in immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo (1975). He is working in molecular and cellular immunology with the main focus on structure and function studies on human and mouse immunoglobulin including their interaction and cooperation with the innate immune system. Many different test systems has been developed for this study involving the complement system and phagocytic cells as well as antigen presenting cells. These in vitro test systems have been adopted in order to study the interaction of polysaccharides purified from medicinal plants from Africa and the immune system. The studies will improve the understanding of interaction mechanisms between bio active polysaccharide and the immune system and possible immune protective effects of medicinal plants from Africa.
Terje E Michaelsen is holding a main position as Chief Scientist at Norwegian Institute of Public Health and a Professor II position at School of Pharmacy University of Oslo. He has published more than 200 articles in international scientific journals. |
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She is working as an associate professor at Department of Pharmaceutical chemistry, School of Pharmacy, University of Oslo, Norway. Has a PhD in pharmacognosy from School of Pharmacy in Oslo, 1991. Focus of the thesis was characterization of pectic substances in Ulmus glabra Huds. She is a member of the research group studying pectic compounds obtained from African medicinal plants. Currently she also studies biological activities in Allium cepa sub. spp. fractions and in fractions of berries from Vaccinium myrtillus, Vaccinium macrocarpon, Sambucus nigra and Aronia melanocarpa. Structural investigations of pectic substances in these fractions are in progress. She has also been co-supervisor for many Master students and PhDs in the program. |
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Malterud graduated from the Norwegian Technical University (NTH – name later changed to NTNU) in 1970. He has been at the School of Pharmacy, University of Oslo, since 1980. His research has mainly dealt with polyphenolic natural products: isolation, purification and structure elucidation, as well as studies on biological activity. These studies have mostly been focused on in vitro antioxidant properties such as radical scavenging and inhibition of peroxidative enzymes.
During the last decade, most of his research projects have been related to studies of medicinal plants in Bangladesh, Mali and South Africa. Collaboration with scientists in these countries is very important for this work.
Several Ph.D. and M.Sc. degrees have been awarded to scientists working on these projects in Malterud´s research group, and a number of peer-reviewed papers in international journals and contributions to national and international conferences have been published.
Karl Egil Malterud is professor in Pharmacognosy at the School of Pharmacy, University of Oslo, and has published ca. 70 articles in peer-reviewed international journals. |
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She got her PhD in pharmacognosy February 2007.Focus of the thesis was bioactive pectic polymers from the Malian medicinal plants Glinus oppositifolius and Biophytum petersianum. She is now holding a post doc position at the Division of Pharmacognosy, School of Pharmacy, University of Oslo. The title of her project is “Cultivated Vernonia kotschyana and Cochlospermum tinctorium, can they replace wild ones in products against gastric ulcer in Mali to retain the biodiversity in the country?"
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Inngjerdingen has a PhD in immunology from the Medical Faculty, University of Oslo, 2001. She is working in molecular and cellular immunology. Her main focus is innate immunity and Natural Killer cells. In 2004 she started cooperating with Pr Paulsen to establish whether pectic polysaccharides from Malian medicinal plants could affect leukocytes. As the polysaccharides were found to activate certain functionalities of antigen presenting cells, the current research is now focused around macrophages, dendritic cells and B cells. In vitro tests have been developed to quickly assess whether a pectic polysaccharide will induce activity or not. The mechanisms for how the pectic polysaccharides induce activation of antigen presenting cells are under investigation.
Inngjerdingen currently holds a post doc position at Institute of Immunology, Oslo University Hospital. |
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She is working as a post doc in Prof. Smestad-Paulsen's group (Dept. Pharmaceutical Chemistry, UiO, Norway), since 2007. She has obtained her PhD degree in Biomedical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, India. Her interests include scientific evaluation of traditional and plant based therapies. She is currently studying the
immunological actions of pectic compounds obtained from African medicinal plants. Her research shows that these polysaccharides specifically and potently activate several aspects of the innate and adaptive immune response. |
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She got her PhD in pharmacognosy June 2008. In her PhD, she has been working on medicinal plants from Mali. After having obtained the degree, she has now returned to her home country to work as specialist in the same field. She is presently working at the DMT, the partner institution of the project, this show that there is no Brain drain in the Mali project. |
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He received his M. Pharm. from the University of Bamako, Mali, in 1997. He then become Master of Philosophy in International Community Health from The Medical Faculty, University of Oslo, in 2002 and obtained his PhD in pharmacognosy and Pharmacology at School of Pharmacy, University of Oslo in 2006. Bah has been employed as a research fellow at Department of Traditional Medicine since 2003 and has had the responsibility for research methodology and study design and also responsible for the pharmacology units at DMT. He is lecturing in pharmacology at Faculty of Medicine, Pharmacy and Odonto-Stomatology in Bamako, and has since January 2008 been a pharmacologist at the pharmacy department of the University hospital at Point G, Bamako. He is also training healers on the areas of HIV/AIDS and malaria. |
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He obtained his M. Pharm from the University of Bamako, Mali, in 1984, and he received the Certificate of Toxicology in 1996. Maïga obtained his PhD at School of Pharmacy, University of Oslo, in 2005. Maïga was the chief pharmacists at the secondary hospital of Diré, Public health inspector of laboratories, Bamako, and pharmacists at the national hospital at Point G, Bamako. He was after these positions employed as a researcher at Department of Traditional Medicine with focus on toxicological problems. Maïga has since 1992 had various teaching positions, amongst others in pharmacy at the secondary medical school, in toxicology and bromatology at the center for specialization of health technicians and serves as a lecturer in toxicology at the Faculty of Medicine, Pharmacy and Odonto-Stomatology in Bamako. He has also been the supervisor for master students in Pharmacy within the areas of toxicology of medicinal plants and quality control of herbal products.
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He is a gastroenterologist and deputy director of DMT and he is also the chief of medical science service at DMT. He was trained in China from Sun Yat Sen University of medical sciences and University of TCM, both in Guangzhou. |
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Tom Erik Grønhaug has a Masters degree in pharmacognosy and is currently a PhD student at School of Pharmacy, University of Oslo, investigating structure determination and bioactivity of polysaccharides in medicinal plants from Mali. |
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She has a Masters degree in pharmacognosy with Prof. Paulsen as her supervisor. Currently she is a PhD student at School of Pharmacy, University of Oslo. She is investigating bioactivity and structural relationship of pectins (polysaccharides) in the medicinal plants Cola cordifolia and Vernonia kotschyana from Mali. She loves her work! |
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She has a Masters degree in pharmacognosy with Prof. Karl E. Malterud as her supervisor. Currently she is a PhD student at School of Pharmacy, University of Oslo. She is investigating chemical and biochemical activity of the medicinal plant Terminalia macroptera.
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He has a masterdegree in botany from Mali. He identifies all the plants used for research and preparation of Improved traditional medicines in Mali. |
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Created: January 2009
Last updated: October 2009 |
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Contact information
Leader of the project in Norway: Professor Berit Smestad Paulsen - b.s.paulsen@farmasi.uio.no - +47-22856572
Postal address: Department of pharmaceutical chemistry ,
PO box 1068 Blindern,
0316 OSLO
Leader of the project in Mali: Drissa Diallo - dri.diallo@yahoo.fr - +223-76378905
Postal address: Departement du Medicine Traditionelle, Pb 1746, Bamako, Mali, West Africa
Webmaster: PhD student Ingvild Austarheim - ingvilau@farmasi.uio.no - +47-22856569/+4791689647
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Acknowledgement:
Thanks to the people who has contributed with pictures: Anh Thu Pham, Berte Hedding and Ingvild Austarheim |
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