Diversity, affirmative action, and equal opportunity
Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity at OHSU exists to promote diversity and prevent discrimination. Learn about affirmative action and equal opportunity at the OHSU Department of Neurology.
The BENFRA Center is actively committed to equity, inclusion and expanding diversity within our Program.
Announcements
Congratulations to Dr Liva Rakotondraibe and team on their recent publication titled “Development of a Proton Spin Network Fingerprint Library to Support Mass Spectrometry-Based Identification of Pharmacophore-Bearing Constituents in the Botanical Supplement Centella asiatica” in the Journal of Natural Products!
This work was supported by a BENFRA-linked R03 grant (R03AT011872) from the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements.
Congratulations to Dr Nora Gray and all the BENFRA co-authors for their recent publication in the journal "Biology": Peripheral Blood DNA Methylation Changes in Response to Centella asiatica Treatment in Aged Mice.
Congratulations to the Fall 2024 Neurology Department Pilot Awardees Rudo Duri and Dr Dani Long!
Rudo will be working with Dr. Amala Soumyanath and Dr. Doris Kretzschmar on a project titled “Can ashwagandha leaf extracts promote resilience to age-related changes in neurological function?”, and Dani will be working with Dr. Doris Kretzschmar on the project “Identify active compounds in water and ethanol extracts of Scutellaria lateriflora that contribute to the resilience to age-related phenotypes using Drosophila melanogaster”
Congratulations to Noah Gladen-Kolarksy, Nora Gray and co-authors for their recent publication on the behavioral effects of Ashwagandha in 5xFAD mice in the journal “Antioxidants” Withania somnifera (Ashwagandha) Improves Spatial Memory, Anxiety and Depressive-like Behavior in the 5xFAD Mouse Model of Alzheimer’s Disease
Congratulations to Alex Speers, Axel Lozano-Ortiz and Amala Soumyanath on their publication “Quantifying Withanolides in Plasma: Pharmacokinetic Studies and Analytical Methods” in the journal “Nutrients” of a review on the analysis and pharmacokinetics of withanolides in plasma. This article features in a Special issue on “Dietary Bioactive Compounds and Human Health: The Role of Bioavailability”
Congratulations to Zarna Raichura and Dr. Angela Calderon of Auburn University on their publication in Drug Metabolism and Disposition “Evaluation of reversible Cytochrome P450 Inhibition by Withania somnifera Leaf and Root Extracts”. This study was funded by a BENFRA related R03 grant.
Congratulations to Dr. Steve Chamberlin and co-authors on BENFRA’s first publication of 2025, “Multi-Omics Analysis in Mouse Primary Cortical Neurons Reveals Complex Positive and Negative Biological Interactions Between Constituent Compounds of Centella asiatica.” Dr Chamberlin, a naturopathic physician, was funded for this work by an administrative supplement to the BENFRA grant (NIH/NCCIH; U19 AT010829-02S1). The purpose of this supplement was to support research training for a complementary and integrative health practitioner.
July 2024 The BENFRA Center welcomes Katlin Wozniak, as our new BENFRA Center Administrative Coordinator
July 2024 Congratulations to Project 1 lead Dr. Nora Gray on her promotion to Associate Professor in the Department of Neurology OHSU
July 2024 Congratulations to Sarah Barr of UNCW for winning the Julia F. Morton Award through the Society of Ethnobotany as well as the Best Phytochemistry Poster award through the Botanical Society of America (BSA) at the Botany 2024 conference for her poster “Evaluation of Fasted and Fed Gastrointestinal Transformation of Withania somnifera (Ashwagandha) Plant Extracts and Bioactive Compounds via UPLCMS and Untargeted Metabolomics.” This work was funded by a BENFRA-associated R03 grant. Take a look at the photos and our R03 projects.
July 2024 Congratulations to Dr Luke Marney, Dr Claudia Maier and team on the publication of their paper in Frontiers in Chemistry, section Analytical Chemistry!
Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry Quantification of Phytochemicals in Withania somnifera Using Data-Dependent Acquisition, Multiple-Reaction-Monitoring, and Parallel-Reaction-Monitoring with an Inclusion List.
July 2024 Congratulations also to Dr Doris Kretzschmar and team for their recent publication, Centella asiatica and its caffeoylquinic acid and triterpene constituents increase dendritic arborization of mouse primary hippocampal neurons and improve age-related locomotion deficits in Drosophila, which was published in Frontiers in Aging last week.
May 2024 Congratulations to Project 1 lead, Dr. Nora Gray and team for their paper recently published in Frontiers in Aging: Amelioration of age-related cognitive decline and anxiety in mice by Centella asiatica extract varies by sex, dose and mode of administration
May 2024 BENFRA team members had a busy Spring presenting their work at multiple conferences between March and May 2024.
See photos on our photos page here
April 2024 The work of the BENFRA Center is highlighted in the April 2024 Message from the Director of the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements
April 2024 Congratulations to Dr. Dani Long, who has received a T32 postdoctoral training grant (NCCIH AT002688; CAM Research Training in Neuroscience and Stress). Dani will continue to work with BENFRA on age-related Drosophila melanogaster phenotypes, expanding the research to include additional botanicals.
April 2024 Congratulations to first author Dr. Alex Speers on his paper recently published in Frontiers in Neuroscience: Mode of administration influences plasma levels of active Centella asiatica compounds in 5xFAD mice while markers of neuroinflammation remain unaltered
April 2024 Congratulations to Dr. Ben Zimmerman who won an award for his poster on Evaluating the effects of Centella asiatica water extract on cerebrovascular function in mice presented at the Society for Neuroscience Oregon/SW Washington Chapter annual meeting on March 9, 2024.
Feb. 2024 Congratulations to first author Armando Alcázar Magaña on his paper recently published in Molecules: Integrating High-Resolution Mass Spectral Data, Bioassays and Computational Models to Annotate Bioactives in Botanical Extracts: Case Study Analysis of C. asiatica Extract Associates Dicaffeoylquinic Acids with Protection against Amyloid-β Toxicity
BENFRA Director Dr. Amala Soumyanath was interviewed by Medical News Today about Ashwagandha. Read the article, published October 24, 2023.
Congratulations to the Fall 2023 Neurology Department Pilot Awardees Olivia Monestime and Rachel Morrill! Olivia will be working with Dr. Nora Gray on a project titled “Assessing microglial phenotypes in 5xFAD mice following oral botanical administration” and Rachel will be working with Dr Doris Kretzschmar on the project “Investigating neuroprotective effects of Centella asiatica in a Drosophila Tauopathy model.”
Congratulations to first author Helen Holvoet on her paper recently published in Nutrients: Chlorogenic Acids, Acting via Calcineurin, Are the Main Compounds in Centella asiatica Extracts That Mediate Resilience to Chronic Stress in Drosophila melanogaster.
Congratulations to first author Dr. Liping Yang and the BENFRA Botanical Research Core team on their paper recently published in the Journal of Chromatography Open:
Quantification of caffeoylquinic acids and triterpenes as targeted bioactive compounds of Centella asiatica in extracts and formulations by liquid chromatography mass spectrometry.
BENFRA and associated R03’s were well represented at the recent American Society of Pharmacognosy conference and the NIH CARBON meeting in Bethesda MD, July 2023 . View photos
August 2023 Congratulations to three of our Postdoctoral Scholars who have obtained Career development awards linked to their work at BENFRA!
- Dr. Alex Speers has been awarded a NIH/NCATS KL2 training grant through the Oregon Clinical and Translational Research Institute at OHSU. The title of his project is: Safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetics of an oral Withania somnifera product in older adults.
- Dr. Ben Zimmerman received a Medical Research Foundation Early Clinical Investigator award. The title of his project is: Effect of Centella asiatica on Vascular Endothelial Function in Older Adults. This study will be conducted at the National University of Natural Medicine, Portland.
- Dr. Steven Chamberlin was awarded a K08 grant from the National Center of Complementary and Integrative Health (NIH/NCCIH). The title of his project is: Network models to capture multiple outcomes resulting from multi-component, salutogenic interventions.
July 2023 Congratulations to BENFRA Co-Investigator Dr. Anusha Mishra, promoted to Associate Professor!
July 2023 BENFRA welcomes a new R03 collaborator, Dr. Wendy Strangman, from the University of North Carolina, Wilmington who will be evaluating metabolic stability of Ashwagandha extracts using in vitro laboratory models simulating the gastrointestinal environment. Welcome Dr. Strangman and lab!
May 2023 Congratulations to the joint first authors Dr. Alex Speers and Kadine Cabey!
review written by BENFRA authors (Speers et al, 2021) is cited as a “key reference” on the NCCIH’s public information sheet on Ashwagandha.
May 2023 Congratulations Ben!
BENFRA’s Dr. Ben Zimmerman won the “Best Post-doc poster award” at the Oregon & Southwest Washington Chapter of the Society for Neuroscience Meeting (May 12-13, 2023), for his poster on “An ex vivo mouse brain slice model to study acute cerebral vasoactivity of Centella asiatica water” extract.
May 2023 Congratulations Amala!
Dr. Amala Soumyanath was interviewed and quoted in this Huff Post article about ashwagandha and stress.
The BENFRA Center, established in 2020, is one of three national Botanical Dietary Supplements Research Centers funded (U19 AT010829) by the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) and the Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS), and is part of the NIH CARBON program. This Center investigates Botanicals Enhancing Neurological and Functional Resilience in Aging.
The Center’s mission is to scientifically evaluate botanicals currently being sold as dietary supplements that are reputed to improve resilience to age-related changes in cognition, sleep or mood. Our goal is to obtain a firm understanding of the biological and chemical properties of these botanicals, so that well-designed clinical trials can be performed to evaluate their efficacy. Ultimately this work will support the development of optimized botanical products with reliable health benefits.
The Center comprises a multidisciplinary group of scientists based at OHSU, along with collaborators at Oregon State University, the University of Mississippi and Oregon’s Wild Harvest, a botanical dietary supplement company.
Learn more about our research, botanicals of interest, and research team.
Program Director
Amala Soumyanath B.Pharm., Ph.D.
soumyana@ohsu.edu
Center Administrator
Katlin Wozniak, B.S.
BENFRA@ohsu.edu
503-418-8197