The Plant Hunter: A Scientist's Quest for Nature's Next Medicines

A leading medical ethnobotanist tells us the story of her quest to develop new ways to fight illness and disease through the healing powers of plants in this uplifting and adventure-filled memoir.

Plants are the basis for an array of lifesaving and health-improving medicines we all now take for granted. Ever taken an aspirin? Thank a willow tree for that. What about life-saving medicines for malaria? Some of those are derived from cinchona and wormwood.

In today’s world of synthetic pharmaceuticals, scientists and laypeople alike have lost this connection to the natural world. But by ignoring the potential of medicinal plants, we are losing out on the opportunity to discover new life-saving medicines needed in the fight against the greatest medical challenge of this century: antibiotic-resistant microbes. Each year, 700,000 people die due to these untreatable infections; by 2050, 10 million annual deaths are expected unless we act now.

No one understands this better than Dr. Cassandra Quave, whose groundbreaking research as a leading medical ethnobotanist—someone who identifies and studies plants that may be able to treat threatening illnesses—is helping to provide clues for the next generation of advanced medicines. In The Plant Hunter, Dr. Quave weaves together science, botany, and memoir to tell us the extraordinary story of her own journey. She has conducted field research in the flooded forests of the remote Amazon, the murky swamps of southern Florida, isolated mountaintops in Albania and Kosovo, and volcanic isles arising out of the Mediterranean. And as a person born with multiple congenital defects of her skeletal system, she’s done it all with just one leg. Filled with grit, tragedy, triumph, awe, and scientific discovery, her story illuminates how the path forward for medical discovery may be found in nature’s oldest remedies.

About the Author

Cassandra Quave, PhD, is the herbarium curator and an associate professor of dermatology and human health at Emory University. She is also the co-founder and CEO/CSO of PhytoTEK LLC, a drug-discovery company dedicated to developing solutions from botanicals for the treatment of recalcitrant antibiotic-resistant infections. Dr. Quave is a fellow of the Explorers Club, a former president of the Society for Economic Botany, and a recipient of the Emory Williams Teaching Award and Charles Heiser, Jr. Mentor Award. She is the co-creator and host of the podcast Foodie Pharmacology. A leader in the field of medical botany, she has authored more than 100 scientific publications and has been featured in the New York Times Magazine and BBC Focus, as well as onPBS, NPR, and the National Geographic Channel.

Author Residence: Atlanta, GA

Author Hometown: Florida