Finding Modern Medicines in the Botanical World – Cassandra Quave, Ph.D. : 986

<p><strong>IN THIS EPISODE OF THE HUMAN UPGRADE</strong>™… you’ll learn how botanical remedies treat infectious and inflammatory diseases. You’ll get a fascinating look at how plants and microbes interact and how antibiotic resistance evolves. And you’ll meet a leader in the field of medical botany who travels to remote locations and communities around the globe&nbsp;seeking out modern medicines from plants.&nbsp;</p><ul><li>Medicinal plants make up the primary form of medicine for 70–95 percent of people living in most developing countries.&nbsp;</li><li>At least 4 billion people are dependent on plants for medicine.</li></ul><p><br></p><p>Ethnobotanist&nbsp;<a href="https://cassandraquave.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Cassandra Quave, Ph.D.</a>, is an herbarium curator and associate professor of dermatology and human health at Emory University. (She’s also a writer, speaker and podcast creator/host.) She teaches courses on medicinal plants, food, and health and her<a href="https://etnobotanica.us/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">&nbsp;Quave Research Group</a>&nbsp;leads anti-infective drug discovery research initiatives.&nbsp;</p><p>Dr. Quave’s also the co-founder and CEO/CSO of PhytoTEK LLC. This drug-discovery company works to develop solutions from botanicals. In particular, they look at treatments of antibiotic-resistant infections like MRSA.</p><p>Her battle with MRSA is personal. She was born with congenital skeletal deformities and had her leg amputated at age 3. She nearly died from a staph infection that infection required more amputation. Her early life and disability experiences shaped her life’s work with medicinal plants.</p><p>She chronicles her extraordinary life, field work and scientific discovery in her book,&nbsp;“<a href="https://www.cassandraquave.com/the-plant-hunter" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Plant Hunter: A Scientist’s Quest for Nature’s Next Medicines</a>.”&nbsp;</p><p>Plants are incredibly complex, and science has barely scratch