Navindra Seeram, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Pharmacognosy
nseeram@mail.uri.edu

 
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Education:

• Postdoctoral Fellow, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 1999-2002

• Ph.D., Natural Products Chemistry, University of the West Indies, Jamaica, 1998

• B.S., Chemistry and Biology, University of Guyana, South America, 1990

Experience:

• Assistant Director and Assistant Adjunct Professor, UCLA Center for Human Nutrition, Division of Clinical Nutrition, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, CA, USA., 2002-2007

Research Interests:

A vast majority of traditional medicines are plant-derived extracts. Therefore, terrestrial plants offer an exciting source for the discovery of new phyto-pharmaceuticals and/or phytomedicines. The focus of my research group, the Bioactive Botanical Research Laboratory (BBRL), is to identify and evaluate plant compounds, as single chemical entities, and in combined extract and food matrices forms, for preventive and/or therapeutic effects against several chronic human illnesses. Targeted disease areas include cancer, diabetes, and neurodegenerative diseases (specifically, Alzheimer’s disease). Through integral inter- and intra-institutional collaborations, BBRL conducts research at the interface of chemistry and biology to address multiple aspects of the drug discovery and development process. To investigate the potential health benefits of nutraceuticals, and functional/medicinal foods, BBRL utilizes both animal and human studies to evaluate physiologically relevant issues such as metabolism, bioavailability, and tissue disposition, as well as identify mechanisms and target site(s) of action.

Podcasts:

• Providing Safe Food Part 2, American Chemical Society

Selected Publications:

• Seeram, N.P. Berry fruits for cancer prevention: Current status and future prospects. J. Agric. Food Chem., 2008, 56, 630-635.

• Seeram, N.P.; Aviram M.; Zhang, Y.; Henning, S.M.; Dreher, M.; Heber, D. Comparison of antioxidant potency of commonly consumed polyphenol-rich beverages in the United States. J. Agric. Food Chem., 2008, 56, 1415-1422.

• Seeram, N.P.; Aronson, W.J.; Zhang, Y.; Henning, S.M.; Moro, A.; Lee, R.; Sartippour, M.; Harris, D.M.; Rettig, M.B.; Suchard, M.A.; Pantuck, A.J.; Belldegrun, A.; Heber, D. Pomegranate ellagitannin derived metabolites inhibit prostate cancer growth and localize to the mouse prostate gland. J. Agric. Food Chem., 2007, 55, 7777-7785.

• Seeram, N.P.; Adams, L.S; Zhang, Y; Sand, D.; Heber, D. Blackberry, black raspberry, blueberry, cranberry, red raspberry and strawberry extracts inhibit growth and stimulate apoptosis of human cancer cells in vitro. J. Agric. Food Chem., 2006, 54, 9329-9339.

• Henry, G.E.; Raithore, S.; Zhang, Y.; Jayaprakasam B.; Nair, M.G.; Heber, D.; Seeram, N.P. Acylphloroglucinol derivatives from Hypericum prolificum. J. Nat. Prod., 2006, 69, 1645-1648.

• Seeram, N.P.; Lee, R.; Scheuller, H.S.; Heber, D. Identification of phenolics in strawberries by liquid chromatography electrospray ionization mass spectroscopy. Food Chem., 2006, 97, 1-11.

• Seeram, N.P.; Henning, S.M.; Zhang, Y.; Suchard, M.; Li, Z.; Heber D. Pomegranate juice ellagitannin metabolites are present in human plasma and some persist in urine for up to 48 hours. J. Nutr., 2006,136, 2481-2485.

• Li, Z.; Seeram, N.P.; Lee, R.; Thames, G.; Minutti, C.; Wang, H-J.; Heber, D. Plasma clearance of Lovastatin vs. Chinese Red Yeast Rice in healthy volunteers. J. Alt. Comp. Med., 2005, 11, 1031-1038.

• Seeram, N.P.; Adams, L.S.; Henning, S.M.; Niu, Y.; Zhang, Y.; Nair, M.G.; Heber, D. In vitro antiproliferative, apoptotic and antioxidant activities of punicalagin, ellagic acid and a total pomegranate tannin extract are enhanced in combination with other polyphenols as found in pomegranate juice. J. Nutr. Biochem., 2005,16, 360-367.

• Seeram, N.P.; Adams, L.S.; Hardy, M.L.; Heber, D. Total cranberry extract versus its phytochemical constituents: antiproliferative and synergistic effects against human tumor cell lines. J. Agric. Food Chem., 2004, 52, 2512-2517.

• Seeram, N.P.; Francis, L.S.; Needham, O.L.; Jacobs, H.; McLean, S.; Reynolds, W.F. Drimane and bisabolane sesquiterpenoids from Cinnamodendron corticosum  (Canellaceae). Biochem. Systematics  Ecol., 2002, 31, 637-640.

• Seeram, N.P.; Lewis, A.; Jacobs, H.; Nair, M.G.; McLean, S.; Reynolds, W.F. Proctoriones A-C: 2-acylcyclohexane-1,3-dione derivatives from Peperomia  proctorii. J. Nat. Prod., 2000, 63, 399-402.

 Patents:

• Nair, M.G.; Cichewicz, R.C.; Seeram, N.P.; Zhang, Y. Anticancer anthraquinones isolation from Hemerocallis fulva and methods of use. US Patent No. 6,875,746 B1, 2005.

• Nair, M.G.; Bourquin, L.D.; Seeram, N.P.; Kang, S.Y. Method for treating tumors caused by APC gene mutation with anthocyanins and cyanidin, US Patent No. 6,656,914 B2, 2003.
   

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