Fecha de publicación: 23/12/2024 Fuente: Society for Medicinal Plants Research Lugar: News As always, the end of a ‘calendar year’ is a time to reflect on what has kept us busy, preoccupied as well as happy and annoyed over the last twelve months. We also look forward to the events and activities in the new year. I am sure all of us, who will take a seasonal break, are also still busy trying to wrap things up, both in terms of what needs to be done and what we want to give to family and friends. The wider global context is challenging, and we need to maintain a focus on achieving a more  sustainable and peaceful ‘Blue Planet’.
From a GA perspective, it has been an amazing year. We had a most successful and stimulating multi-society congress in Kraków with amazing presentations and an opportunity to meet up and to discuss developments, future projects and to take stock.
The GA-eSeminars are going from strength to strength with some excellent sessions focusing on diverse aspects especially from Africa. On December 6th we had then e.g. a high end one on ‘Natural products research in the digital era’ organised by Emerson F. Queiroz (Geneva) which attracted 300 colleagues globally. Specifically, it focused on mzmine: interactive mass spectrometry, data processing, compound annotation, statistics molecular networking, and automatic library generation.
Early in the year many met in Brussels for a highly political event focusing on the European Union’s Health Claim Directive for food supplements and the challenges it poses for maintaining the status of regulated herbal medicines on the European markets. This includes not only what therapeutic options there are for such products, but also their quality and thus safety. In this event we reached out well beyond the traditional academic audience (for a summary see Planta Med. 2024 90(14):1052-1055).
In a wider context, the field continues to thrive, with many outcomes of research pointing into new directions. A recent well-designed high-profile clinical study addressed the efficacy of the TCM preparation Zhongfeng Xingnao in the treatment of acute spontaneous intracerebral haemorrhage [Guo et al. The Lancet 404 (10468): 2187 – 2196]. It is an exciting example of a methodologically rigorous, randomised controlled trial, which, however, did not show relevant effect of this specific TCM preparation. As a personal reflection, we do wonder whether we are not overambitious in expecting positive outcomes in case of such a major disease – acute intracerebral haemorrhage? And as is all too often the case the reporting on the composition is unclear or even missing. So very much a mixed outcome.
In early 2025, we have two important new online events coming up – an ‘e-Panel Discussion on Sustainability Approaches in the Workplace in Relation to Herbal Medicine and Natural Products Research [17 January 2025, 15:00- 16:30 CET, more information] and a week later on  „TCM in Europe – opportunities and challenges” [NOTE THE EARLIER TIME – 24 January, 2025, 1.00 PM – 3.00 PM (CET), more information].
And the highlight of the upcoming year will be the 73rd GA Congress in beautiful Naples (Italy), taking place from 31. August to 3. September 2025, with a lot of exciting sessions, e.g. on metabolomics and authentication, bioinformatics, bioactivity, drug development and clinical use of natural produscts, and  excellent opportunities for scientific exchange at the foot of Mount Vesuvius. More information.
Soon we will also enter the new Lunar Year of the Chinese tradition – Year of the Wood Snake, which is said to blend the qualities of the Snake with the characteristics of Wood. So, I am not sure what to expect? Everyone in the Board wishes you an enjoyable break, if you have one, merry Christmas, and all the best for the New Year of the European tradition.
Michael Heinrich   and   Olaf Kelber
Der Beitrag GA Wishes Happy Holidays and a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous Year 2025! erschien zuerst auf Society for Medicinal Plant and Natural Product Research (GA).