This article appears in Volume 62, Issue 2.
Two years ago, a PhD student with a passion for natural products and a commitment to mentorship set out to bring the American Society of Pharmacognosy's student chapter community to the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC). Today, that effort has grown into an active chapter with a full slate of professional development events, a growing membership, and a reputation for community outreach that stretches from the lab bench to local classrooms. As I take on the role of President for the 2026-2027 academic year, I'm excited to share the story of how we got here and where we're headed next!
A Chapter Rooted in Legacy and Mentorship
Our chapter's story begins with Nana Oblie, a PhD candidate in Matt Henke's lab and our Founding President. Before arriving at UIC, Nana was an ASP Summer Research Fellow and a member of the very first ASP student group ever established: the Brevetoxin Chapter at the University of Rhode Island. That early experience showed her firsthand what a strong, engaged student chapter could do for early-career natural products scientists, and she carried that vision with her when she began her doctoral studies at UIC.
Working alongside Dr. Brian Murphy, who agreed to serve as the chapter's faculty advisor, and a dedicated group of initial Executive Board members, Nana established what would become the Bolton-Farnsworth Chapter in 2024. The name honors two figures in pharmacognosy who built their legacies at UIC: Dr. Norman Farnsworth, a former ASP President and distinguished professor renowned for his contributions to natural products research, and Dr. Judith Bolton, who was also a distinguished professor at the university and former Head of the Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacognosy department. It's a name that reflects both the discipline's history and the institutional roots from which our chapter grew.
Building Community: Year One Highlights
In its first full academic year, the chapter focused on connecting current pharmacognosy graduate students with professionals already working in the field. Among the highlights was an event with Eurofins, which generously provided a catered luncheon as part of an industry-focused gathering. This setting gave students the chance to discuss career paths beyond academia and build relationships with scientists working in contract research and natural products testing.
Passing the Torch: New Leadership, New Collaborations
As the chapter's first year drew to a close, leadership passed to Ngoc Pham, also a PhD candidate in Matt Henke's lab, who stepped in as President for the 2025-2026 academic year. It’s also worth mentioning that Ngoc Pham was the first winner of the ASP Student Chapter Presentation Competition for her talk titled, “A Narrow-spectrum Bacteriocin is Produced by Mediterraneibacter gnavus, A Potential Pathogen in Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD).” Regarding her presidency, Ngoc wasted no time setting an ambitious tone, kicking off the year with a new community partnership: a collaboration with Debbie Kong and Dr. Brent Friesen through the Summer Gifted and Talented (SGAT) Program at Dominican University.
The Chapter Executive Board delivered a presentation to SGAT students and worked alongside them to plant medicinal herbs, bringing the drug discovery pipeline to the garden. The collaboration was built around Dominican University's course titled “Horticulture: Medicinal Foods and Plants”, which guided students (grades 6-8) through how modern medicines were discovered, their traditional preparations versus modern practices, and the ethical considerations involved in growing, harvesting, and selling medicinal plants. It was the kind of outreach that plants seeds (both literally and figuratively) for future interest in our field.
Growing Our Reach
Beyond the SGAT partnership, the chapter spent the 2025-2026 year working deliberately to raise its profile across campus. By participating in student organization fairs, the chapter introduced itself to a broader cross-section of the UIC student body and successfully grew its membership. That expanded base, in turn, allowed the chapter to offer more ambitious and cost-intensive programming, including hands-on perfume-making labs and additional industry talks.
Looking Ahead: 2026-2027 and Beyond
As I step into the role of student chapter President again (referencing my former days at the University of Rhode Island), I'm proud to be carrying this group’s momentum forward alongside our newly elected Executive Board (pictured below). Several of our signature initiatives will continue this year, alongside some exciting new ones.
We're returning to Dominican University to continue our partnership with the SGAT program this summer, but this time with a refreshed outline that shifts the emphasis from horticulture toward pharmacognosy more broadly, giving students an even deeper look into the science behind drug discovery from natural sources.
Closer to home, the chapter will continue its long-standing support of two UIC traditions: the annual Norman R. Farnsworth Lecture and the Atkins Medicinal Plant Garden Walk, both of which connect our department's research mission to the broader public's curiosity about medicinal plants.
We're also hoping to expand our community science footprint with a brand-new event: a Bacterial Art Lab Workshop. Open to UIC students as well as members of the broader Chicago community interested in citizen science, the workshop will pair a short didactic session with hands-on laboratory experience. The lecture portion will introduce participants to the chemical ecology of pigments and their documented antimicrobial, antioxidant, or anticancer activities. Participants will then move into the lab, where they'll use environmental bacterial isolates provided through a collaboration with Dr. David Rowley's lab at the University of Rhode Island to inoculate agar plates in creative, artistic designs. It's a workshop designed to do double duty: spark scientific curiosity about microbial natural product diversity while training the next generation of natural products researchers to see the connection between art, ecology, and drug discovery.
Get Involved
From a founding group's vision to a chapter now reaching graduate students, undergraduates, middle schoolers, and the wider Chicago community, the Bolton-Farnsworth Chapter has grown into a true reflection of what pharmacognosy outreach can look like in practice. We're grateful to the founders, advisors, and members who built this foundation, and we're looking forward to continuing the work this year.
Want to learn more about our group at UIC or explore what ASP Student Chapters have to offer you? Email me at mhill52@uic.edu. Our student chapter community is expanding, and you could be the catalyst that brings ASP students together at your institution to help grow the next generation of pharmacognosists!
