Research

Cutting-edge Drug Discovery

active epicenter - clinical protocol teams

The Gavegnano Group, led by Dr. Christina Gavegnano, studies inflammation as it relates to viral pathogenesis, with a specific focus on drug discovery and immunomodulation with small molecule inhibitors. Our team continues to pursue mechanistic studies to bolster additional understanding of the modulation of inflammation and its potential antiviral effects.

The Gavegnano Drug Discovery Program was established in 2022 and offers students a front row seat in the process of drug discovery, from idea to FDA-approved agent. To learn more, click here.

Co-Design Lab for Health Equity

The Emory Co-Design Lab for Health Equity serves as a hub for thought-leadership and implementation science in the co-design of affordable health care and social innovation programs at Emory. The Co-Design Lab was co-founded by Human Health faculty Dr. Rachel Hall-Clifford and Dr. Gari Clifford, Chair of Emory’s Department of Biomedical Informatics. The Lab’s mission is to promote health equity through the co-design of health and social innovation programs with marginalized populations by harnessing low-cost, cutting-edge technologies. We work with partner organizations and community stakeholders to create solutions for community-identified health concerns. We believe that to achieve health equity, we must stop delivering health programs and start co-designing them.

To learn more about the Emory Co-Design Lab, visit their website here.

Selected Publications

2021 NIH Fogarty International Center. mHealth app reduces LMIC pregnancy, delivery risks. Global Health Matters 20(4).
https://www.fic.nih.gov/News/GlobalHealthMatters/july-august-2021/Pages/mHealth-app-reduces-LMIC-pregnancy-delivery-risks.aspx
2020 M Juarez, Y Juarez, E Coyote, T Nguyen, C Shaw, R Hall-Clifford, G Clifford, and P Rohloff. Working with lay midwives to improve the detection of neonatal complications in rural Guatemala. BMJ Open Quality, 9(1). http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjoq-2019-000775
2018 B Martinez, E Coyote, R Hall-Clifford, M Juarez, AC Miller, A Francis CE Valderrama, L Stroux, GD, Clifford, P Rohloff. mHealth intervention to improve the continuum of maternal and perinatal care in rural Guatemala: a pragmatic, randomized controlled feasibility trial. Reproductive Health, 15(1): 120, 12 pages. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12978-018-0554-z.
2017 R Hall-Clifford, R Amerson. From Guidelines to Local Realities: Evaluation of oral rehydration therapy and zinc supplementation in Guatemala. Revista Panamericana de Salud Pública/Pan American Journal of Public Health 41:e8, 6 pages. https://www.scielosp.org/article/rpsp/2017.v41/e8/en/#.
2017 R Hall-Clifford, S Roche, S Fathima, N Palmius, K Hollingworth, J Kennedy, J Merida, M Stephens, R Lavalley, P Rohloff, P Garcia, G Clifford. Sustainable Technology for Surgical Referrals: Pilot Implementation of an Electronic Referral System for Short-Term Surgical Missions. Journal of Health Informatics in Developing Countries, 11(2), 26 pages. http://www.jhidc.org/index.php/jhidc/article/view/166/219.

Human Health Lab

The Human Health Lab, led by Dr. Cassandra Quave, translates botanical knowledge of the traditional medical practices of the Mediterranean to readily available treatments for infectious pathogens. These studies have covered the domains of medicinal foods to anti-infective remedies. Most recently, this work has resulted in the discovery of new biofilm inhibitors from the elm leaf blackberry for the treatment of multi-drug resistant Staphylococcus aureus infection.

Recent Publications

Salam, A. M., & Quave, C. L. (2018). Targeting virulence in Staphylococcus aureus by chemical inhibition of the accessory gene regulator system in vivo. MSphere, 3(1), e00500-17.
Khan, M. F., Tang, H., Lyles, J. T., Pineau, R., Mashwani, Z. U. R., & Quave, C. L. (2018). Antibacterial properties of medicinal plants from Pakistan against multidrug-resistant ESKAPE pathogens. Frontiers in Pharmacology, 9, 815.
Hajdari, A., Pieroni, A., Jhaveri, M., Mustafa, B., & Quave, C. L. (2018). Ethnomedical Knowledge among Slavic Speaking People in South Kosovo. ETHNOBIOLOGY AND CONSERVATION, 7.
Lyles, J. T., Kim, A., Nelson, K., Bullard-Roberts, A. L., Hajdari, A., Mustafa, B., & Quave, C. L. (2017). The Chemical and Antibacterial Evaluation of St. John's Wort Oil Macerates Used in Kosovar Traditional Medicine. Frontiers in microbiology, 8, 1639.

View all publications: Lab Website, Google Scholar

Read more about our lab's publications, media, and press at etnobotanica.us.

Origins of Health

The Origins of Health focuses on the theory, research and policy implications of the new science known as the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease. Our work in this area combines cutting edge discoveries in Predictive Health with the growing evidence for intergenerational contributions and environmental influences that have lifelong effects on health from the earliest days of development.

Emory Herbarium

The Emory University Herbarium is home to more than 21,000 plant specimens, dating back to the late 1800s. The majority of the collection is composed of plants from the southeast USA, but new collection efforts are expanding reach as far as the Mediterranean and Australia! Other exciting activities ongoing at the herbarium include their digitization project.

With the support of a generous donation, they were able to make the dream of capturing digital images and databasing the entire collection a reality! These digital images of the specimens add great value to the collection by increasing global access to this amazing resource.

They aim to incorporate these resources into botanical research and educational outreach initiatives at Emory and beyond. Visit the SERNEC Portal to view images and collection data on more than 20,000 of Emory’s specimens online.

To learn more about the Emory University Herbarium, visit their website here.