UW News

March 19, 1998

School of Pharmacy’s annual Katterman Lecture focuses on herbal medicine

Reflecting the growing public interest in alternative and complementary medicine, the University of Washington School of Pharmacy’s 19th annual Don B. Katterman Lecture will focus on “Herbal Medicine: Trends, Problems, Solutions and Products.”

The lecture, for pharmacists and other health-care professionals, is from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday, April 18, in Kane Hall on the UW campus.

Dr. Gary Elmer, UW associate professor of medicinal chemistry, will be joined by two outside panelists: Dr. Don Brown, director of Natural Product Research Consultants in Seattle, and Dr. Eileen Stretch, practitioner in the Institute of Complementary Medicine in Seattle. Both are naturopathic physicians.

“The presentation will help pharmacists better determine whether, when and how to recommend or integrate herbal medicines into standard pharmacy services,” said Elmer.

The panelists will review clinical research and discuss common clinical uses of herbal remedies. Elmer will discuss herbal medicine as a complementary or alternative therapy, including the issues of quality control and product selection. Brown will discuss the role of phytomedicines in treating cardiovascular disease, and Stretch will cover herbal medicine approaches to treating upper respiratory infections.

Vendors of herbal medicine products will display their products at the conference.

Named in memory of a well-known Seattle pharmacist who was the first president of the Pharmacy Alumni Association and a president of the Washington State Pharmacists Association, the annual Katterman Lecture is sponsored by the UW School of Pharmacy and the Pharmacy Alumni Association.

The lecture is open to all interested health-care professionals. Participants will receive three hours of continuing pharmacy education credit. Registration fee is $10. To register or for more information call Sidney Herness at (206) 543-3485.