Research Director Visits Bhutan as Guest of the Ministry of Agriculture
Dr. Mary Ann Lila, director of the N.C. State University Plants for Human Health Institute, traveled to Bhutan in December 2008. Dr. Lila is vice president of the Global Institute for BioExploration (GIBEX), which works with scientists and students in scores of developing countries toward discovery of new, plant-based medicinally active fruit and vegetable extracts and potential new products to introduce into the U.S. marketplace.
GIBEX is a global research and development network born out of cooperative research between Rutgers University, N.C. State University and the University of Illinois. It promotes ethical, natural product-based pharmacological and functional foods discovery to benefit human health and the environment in developing countries.
The GIBEX team uses field-deployable, portable scientific bioassays and databases to work hand-in-hand with local scientists in country to discover and develop novel natural product leads. A GIBEX-U.S. delegation composed of Dr. Lila, Preston Scott with the Smithsonian Institute, and Dr. Ilya Raskin of Rutgers University visited the Kingdom of Bhutan in December 2008. The visit was sponsored by the Ministry of Agriculture of Bhutan and involved meetings with government officials and members of the Royal Family.
As a result of this meeting, a plan for the establishment of GIBEX-Bhutan was drafted. This plan involves a speedy signing of the memorandum of understanding followed by a GIBEX training course in Bhutan as early as spring 2009. The plan envisions the Bhutan Institute of Traditional Medicine Services and the National Biodiversity Center of Bhutan working together to establish GIBEX-Bhutan. GIBEX-Bhutan will concentrate on the bioexploration of Bhutanese flora for new sources of medicines, validation of existing traditional medicines and the use of GIBEX technologies to advance scientific education within the country. GIBEX-Bhutan is poised to be the first scientific partnership between Bhutan and any U.S. university. This partnership will serve as a model for future international scientific programs and exchanges with Bhutan and will bring sustainable economic and educational opportunities to the Bhutanese people.
