Australian Research & Education
Australian Institute of Pharmacognosy
In Natura Quaerimus Remedium
We study plant medicines, from the chemistry in the leaf to the trials in people, where there are any. Independent and not-for-profit, with a head office in Cardwell, far north Queensland.
Hinchinbrook Island from Cardwell. Photo: Willem van Aken, CSIRO, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Researchers and practitioners
The evidence, referenced in full
Literature reviews with every citation checked against the full text, and technical monographs on the herbs Australian practitioners use.
- The Journal: literature reviews and research articles
- Australian Herbal Pharmacopoeia: botany, chemistry, TLC and HPLC, safety
- Field observations from north Queensland
- Propose a collaboration
Supporters and philanthropists
Help build the Institute
The Cardwell lab was fitted out largely with equipment given by schools and other organisations. The next step is a permanent research facility, analytical instruments and funded researchers.
We are not accepting donations yet. We are working towards charity registration and the Queensland fundraising authority first.
Support the InstituteEveryone curious about plants
Plain English, no hype
Short guides to the same plants the Journal covers, written for people without a chemistry degree, plus a podcast for the drive home.
- The Blog: plain-English plant guides
- The Podcast
- The newsletter, a few times a year
Made at the Institute, out now and in production
Why we exist
Healers have used plants as medicine for thousands of years, and most of that pharmacology has never been checked properly. We document the plants, test the claims, and publish what holds up and what doesn’t. Where traditional knowledge belongs to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples or other Indigenous communities, we work only with the free, prior and informed consent of its custodians.
Stay in touch
New research, monographs and field work, a few times a year. Unsubscribe any time.