Rudolf Bauer (Chair), Monique Simmonds (Co-Chair)

Background

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has played an important role in the treatment of human diseases, especially chronic and complex diseases. Most of the drug materials of TCM are from plants or animals, whose metabolites are responsible for the therapeutic effects. Therefore, it is essential to ensure consistent quality for reliable efficacy. Consequently, quality control has become an important part in TCM research.

Aim and objectives

  • Exploring new methods for analysis quality control. Due to the complex composition of TCM mixtures, quality control should be based on the thorough knowledge of chemical constituents. QC-IG will specifically follow the development of novel analytical methods for the comprehensive profiling constituents, like LC-MS and NMR based metabolomics.
  • Establish quality standards for TCM drugs. A quality standard should be feasible, but based on in-depth investigation on relevant chemical components, in vivo metabolism, and pharmacological effects. QC-IG will support the strategies and applications to establish the quality control standards for TCM drugs, like pharmacopoeia and ISO standards.
  • Promote internationalization of TCM. QC-IG will encourage the collaboration of scientists with pharmacopoeia committees and standard organizations, such as United States Pharmacopoeia (USP), European Pharmacopoeia (EP) and International Organization for Standardization (ISO), in order to promote the acceptance and application of TCM quality standards in a global setting.

 

Actions

  • Organize academic conferences and symposia related to TCM quality control.
  • Offer presentations related to the policies and techniques of TCM quality control standards.
  • Promote international interdisciplinary collaborations between suppliers, analytical chemists, pharmacologists and from other disciplines to carry out research on relevant quality standards of TCM.
  • Support young researchers at different levels through exchange visits, joint publications and forums.
  • Publish and disseminate high-level research papers in the field.

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