Insights from Echinacea: An interview with Dr. Nadja Cech
Did you know that plants have a microbiome? This week on my podcast, I explore the interactions between medicinal plants and their associated microbes with plant chemist, Dr. Nadja Cech.
Echinacea is one of North America's most beloved medicinal plants, long used in folk medicine for its immune-boosting effects. But did you know that echinacea also has a microbiome—a community of microbes living in and on it—that influences its chemistry and medicinal properties? I speak with plant chemistry expert Dr. Nadja Cech about plant microbiomes, the chemical signatures of plants, and how the thousands of molecules in a single plant work together in synergy.
About Dr. Cech
Dr. Nadja B. Cech’s day job is as Patricia A. Sullivan Professor of Chemistry at the University of North Carolina Greensboro, where she works with a dynamic group of students and research scientists to identify medicinally active molecules from plants and fungi. Her group had done seminal work demonstrating strategies to understand the synergistic interactions between plant constituents. In the cracks between, Dr. Cech is a mom, a writer, and a community gardener. Her piece “On Being a Mother and a Scientist at the Same Time” was published this fall in Motherwell. Dr. Cech is the recipient of the 2011 Jack L. Beal Award from the Journal of Natural Products and the 2017 Thomas Norwood Award for Undergraduate Research Mentorship. She is a Principal Investigator for the NCCIH and ODS funded Center for High Content Functional Annotation of Natural Products, Co-Director of the Analytical Core for the Center of Excellence for Natural Product Drug Interactions, and Co-Director of the Medicinal Chemistry Collaborative. Dr. Cech is on Twitter at @nadjacech.
Where to tune in
You can listen to episodes of the Foodie Pharmacology podcast on Apple Podcasts or on any preferred podcast streaming platform. I also post the video version of the show each week on the Teach Ethnobotany YouTube channel.
I hope you enjoy this episode!
Do you have questions or suggestions for future guests on the show? Please let me know in the comments below.
Yours in health, Dr. Quave
Cassandra L. Quave, Ph.D. is a disabled writer, speaker, podcast host, wife, mother, explorer, ethnobotanist, and professor at Emory University School of Medicine. She teaches college courses and leads a group of research scientists studying medicinal plants to find new life-saving drugs from nature. She hosts the Foodie Pharmacology podcast and writes the Nature’s Pharmacy newsletter to share the science behind natural medicines. To support her effort, consider a paid or founding subscription, with founding members receiving an autographed 1st edition hardcover copy of her book, The Plant Hunter.