Our interest in herbal medicine grew out of my Connections between my First Year Seminar, Is Alternative Medicine a Feasible Alternative and a course on World Religions. Several years ago, the effect of ginkgo on angiogenesis was studied using the zebrafish model. We found that this widely used memory enhancing herbal medicine was indeed angiogenic. We then investigated the inhibitory action of polyphenolic compounds found in products such as green tea, grape skin on zebrafish as well as HUVEC cells.

Last year, we started our investigation on the effect of Panax notoginseng on zebrafish blood vessel growth after learning about this herbal extract widely used to treat high blood pressure in China during our 3-week course on Traditional Chinese Medicine. Our preliminary data indicated strong angiogenic action. While working in the National Institutes of Health this summer, Kyle Glass’11 further studied its effect on the immune system. This year we plan to continue our investigation to collect statistically significant data for publication.