Cassandra Leah Quave (born June 2, 1978) is an American ethnobotanist,

herbarium A herbarium (plural: herbaria) is a collection of preserved plant biological specimen, specimens and associated data used for scientific study. The specimens may be whole plants or plant parts; these will usually be in dried form mounted on a sh ...

curator, and associate professor at

Emory University Emory University is a private university, private research university in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It was founded in 1836 as Emory College by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory. Its main campu ...

. Her research focuses on analyzing natural, plant-based medicine of indigenous cultures to help combat

infectious disease An infection is the invasion of tissue (biology), tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host (biology), host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmis ...

and

antibiotic resistance Antimicrobial resistance (AMR or AR) occurs when microbes evolve mechanisms that protect them from antimicrobials, which are drugs used to treat infections. This resistance affects all classes of microbes, including bacteria (antibiotic resis ...

. In particular, she studies bacterial

biofilm A biofilm is a Syntrophy, syntrophic Microbial consortium, community of microorganisms in which cell (biology), cells cell adhesion, stick to each other and often also to a surface. These adherent cells become embedded within a slimy ext ...

inhibition and quorum-sensing inhibition of botanical extracts for inflammatory skin conditions.

Early life and education

Childhood

Born in Arcadia, Florida, Quave's interest in science and medicine began early, stemming from the extended time she spent in hospitals. At age three, congenital birth defects prompted an amputation below the knee in her right leg. After surgery, she required follow-up treatment for complications from an MRSA (Methicillin-resistant ''Staphylococcus aureus'') infection. This experience would provide the basis of her adolescent science fair project about drug resistance in ''

Escherichia coli ''Escherichia coli'' ( )Wells, J. C. (2000) Longman Pronunciation Dictionary. Harlow ngland Pearson Education Ltd. is a gram-negative, facultative anaerobic, rod-shaped, coliform bacterium of the genus '' Escherichia'' that is commonly fo ...

'', as well as her later research projects.

Undergraduate education

In her undergraduate years at

, she pursued a double bachelor's of science in Human Biology as well as Anthropology, which she earned in 2000. A college course in tropical ecology coupled with trips to Peru shifted her interest from medical school to instead pursuing a PhD through researching ethnobotany. In Peru, she saw the work of a

traditional medicine Traditional medicine (also known as indigenous medicine or folk medicine) refers to the knowledge, skills, and practices rooted in the cultural beliefs of various societies, especially Indigenous groups, used for maintaining health and treatin ...

man on children with parasitic worm infections in villages without access to pharmaceutical drugs. To her, the encounter illustrated how modern Western medicine has undermined the usefulness of traditional medicine.

Doctoral education

After earning her bachelor's degrees, Quave started her ethnobotany fieldwork in southern Italy between 2001 and 2003, before pursuing a doctoral program in biology at

Florida International University Florida International University (FIU) is a public research university with its main campus in Westchester, Florida, United States. Founded in 1965 by the Florida Legislature, the school opened to students in 1972. FIU is the third-largest univ ...

. Under Dr. Bradley C. Bennett's guidance, she completed her doctoral dissertation in 2008, titled "An ethnopharmacological approach to multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus aureas: Evaluation of Italian Plants used in the Traditional Healing of Skin Disease."

Post-doctoral fellowships

Quave completed her first post-doctoral fellowship in microbial pathogenesis at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences between 2009 and 2011. Specifically, she continued her study of medicinal plants in Italy, focusing on anti-biofilm properties in MRSA. Additionally, Quave completed a second post-doctoral teaching fellowship between 2011 and 2012 with the Emory University Center for Human Health.

Research contributions

Bacterial biofilm inhibition

The defensive mechanism of bacterial biofilms in resisting antimicrobial drugs comes from the ability of microbes to develop and hide within a protective

extracellular matrix In biology, the extracellular matrix (ECM), also called intercellular matrix (ICM), is a network consisting of extracellular macromolecules and minerals, such as collagen, enzymes, glycoproteins and hydroxyapatite that provide structural and bio ...

. Quave's work during her first post-doctoral fellowship focused on the significant biofilm-inhibiting activity of 10 individual botanical extracts from unique species of plants, something she believes could be utilized in new drug therapies. Since then, one of her current research projects focuses on finding the specific compounds in the elmleaf blackberry plant ('' Rubus ulmifolius)'' that contribute to the property. In doing so, Quave hopes to translate the biofilm inhibiting extracts into a wound management device such as bandages.

Quorum-sensing inhibition

Another major project of Quave's has been studying quorum-sensing inhibiting (QSI) activity in medicinal plants that prevent bacterial cells from effectively communicating, colonizing, and releasing toxins. Her focus has been upon both the Brazilian pepper tree extracts ('' Schinus terebinthifolia'') and the European chestnut (''

Castanea sativa The sweet chestnut (''Castanea sativa''), also known as the Spanish chestnut or European chestnut, is a species of tree in the family Fagaceae, native to Southern Europe and Asia Minor, and widely cultivated throughout the Temperate climate, te ...

''). According to Quave, these QSI extracts could help in the treatment of

atopic dermatitis Atopic dermatitis (AD), also known as atopic eczema, is a long-term type of inflammation of the skin. Atopic dermatitis is also often called simply eczema but the same term is also used to refer to dermatitis, the larger group of skin conditi ...

. However, she acknowledges a number of difficulties of the drug development process. Aside from receiving FDA approval, there are the added difficulties of isolating the active compound and understanding the complex pharmacology of multiple extracts, if pursuing a mixture for increased efficacy.

Selected publications

Books

In 2021, Quave published "The Plant Hunter", a memoir focused on searching for plants with medicinal potential. *

Academic research

* * * * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Quave, Cassandra 1978 births 21st-century American botanists 21st-century American women scientists American ethnobotanists Living people