Prof. Chun-Tao Che

Dr. Che is the Harry H.S. Fong Professor of Pharmacognosy, and director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Herbal Medicine at the University of Illinois at Chicago, USA (UIC). Prior to joining UIC as the first Norman R. Farnsworth Professor of Pharmacognosy in 2010, he was the director of the School of Chinese Medicine at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Trained as a pharmacognosist, he has a broad background in the botany, chemistry, biology, and pharmacology of Chinese medicines and natural products. During the 40 years of career as a researcher and educator, Dr. Che focuses his research in plant chemistry and the biological evaluation of secondary plant metabolites. Over 340 scientific papers have been published to his credit, mostly addressing the following areas: (1) Discovery of novel substances or herbal preparations with potential pharmaceutical applications; (2) Establishment of quality control / quality assurance methodologies and standardization of plant-based preparations; (3) Development of evidence-based herbal medicine by providing chemical and pharmacological evidence to support the use of traditional medicine in modern times.