CHE, Chun – Tao，

       Harry H.S. Fong Professor of Pharmacognosy, University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC); Director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Herbal Medicines at UIC.

       WANG Mei

       Professor, Leiden University, the Netherlands

This 16 hours’ course covers the introduction of representative books (Bencao) in the history of Chinese Materia Medica (CMM) development, quality control and the role of international standards of herbal materials based on United States Pharmacopeia and European Pharmacopeia, the introduction of herbal medicine, bioactive molecules and systems pharmacology for evaluation of the pharmacological effects of herbal medicines, quality control and the role of international standards of herbal materials, production of herbal medicines, European legal aspects of herbal medicine and pharmacovigilance, and and its historical contributions will also be covered. Since quality evaluation plays a vital role in ensuring safety and effectiveness of CMM, the evolution of quality evaluation of CMM and the strategies to deal with the difficult tasks in quality control of CMM will also be included. Furthermore, overview of US Pharmacopoeia and American Herbal Pharmacopoeia, the Hong Kong Chinese Materia Medica Standards and related applications will be introduced to help learners understand the development trends of CMM and herbal medicine in quality standardization process. The aims of this course is to provide a general information about CMM evaluation strategies to ensure the safety and quality of CMM in protection of public health.