Lisa Offringa

Ph.D. Candidate, The New York Botanical Garden

Biology, Plant Sciences, The Graduate Center at The City University of New York (2006-present)
Medicinal Plants of Northern Thailand Used by Traditional Doctors to Improve Cognitive Impairment in the Elderly
Expertise: Ethnobotany, medicinal plants, traditional medical systems, phytochemistry, neurodegenerative memory disorders, cultural perception of disease

Profile

My doctoral research focuses on locating therapeutic plants that prevent the progression of neurodegenerative memory disorders of the elderly in the pharmacopeia of traditional Lanna medicine of Northern Thailand. Plant formulas and individual plants used to increase memory, tonics for the brain and long life, and for specific symptoms of dementia have been reported through interviews with local doctors around Chiang Mai Province. These multi-plant formulas and selected individual plants will be tested for bioactivity through both in vitro and in vivo assays. This project, in collaboration with Thai academic and botanical institutions, aims to identify and collect medicinal plants reported as efficacious by traditional doctors, and test them against the causes of dementia as a means to substantiate traditional knowledge with scientific methodology. My doctoral supervisor is Dr. Michael Balick at the Institute of Economic Botany in The New York Botanical Garden. In Thailand, I am collaborating with Dr. Kongkanda Chayamarith at the Queen Sirikit Botanic Garden, Dr. Jintanaporn Wattanathorn at Khon Kaen University, and Dr. Panee Sirisa-Ard at Chiang Mai University. This project has received approval from the National Research Council of Thailand and the Institutional Review Board of The City University of New York. The Garden Club of America, the CUNY Doctoral Research Grant and Botany in Action have provided funding for my research.