UIC College of Pharmacy Re-Designated as World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Center for Herbal Medicine
The UIC College of Pharmacy has been formally re-designated as a Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) / World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Center for Herbal Medicine (USA-407) from 2020-2024. Drs. Chun-Tao Che and Guido F. Pauli have been named as the Directors of the Center.
WHO collaborating centers are institutions such as research institutes, units of universities or academies, which are designated by the Director-General to carry out activities in support of the Organization's programs. Currently, there are over 800 WHO collaborating centers in over 80 Member States working with WHO on areas such as nursing, occupational health, communicable diseases, nutrition, mental health, chronic diseases, and pharmacy.
The WHO Collaborating Center for Herbal Medicine (formerly "for Traditional Medicine") at UIC was named in the early 1980s as one of the first such designated Centers, under the directorship of the late Professor Norman Farnsworth. It remains the only such Center in the Americas.
Throughout the years, the Center has made substantial contributions to the WHO and its member states, in a wide range of subjects, such as educational/research training, policy/technical consultation, and information dissemination - all centered in the areas of traditional and herbal medicine, botanical dietary supplement, pharmacognosy, and natural drug. The Center is committed to working closely with the WHO and other Collaborating Centers in advancing and promoting the research and practice of traditional medicine. This designation will also serve to maintain UIC’s well-recognized role on the international map of the traditional medicine endeavor.