AMALA SOUMYANATH

DR. AMALA SOUMYANATH

Dr. Amala Soumyanath is a Professor in the Neurology Department at Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) in Portland, Oregon. She received her Pharmacy degree and Ph.D. from the University of London, UK. Dr. Soumyanath (née Raman) began her academic career as a Lecturer in the Pharmacy Department at King's College London (KCL), where she taught pharmacognosy courses and helped modernize the pharmacognosy curriculum, including during the transition from the three-year BPharm to the four-year MPharm program. At both KCL and OHSU, her research program has investigated traditional herbal medicines, exploring the validity and scientific basis of their reputed biological activity. The goals of this work are to support evidence-based phytotherapy and to identify natural product leads for conventional drug development. Her research at KCL examined herbal remedies for diabetes and skin diseases, while at OHSU her focus has been on herbs with potential benefits in aging and neurodegenerative diseases. She has received multiple federal and philanthropic grants to explore the neurological properties of herbs through preclinical evaluation, chemical characterization, and clinical studies. Dr. Soumyanath currently serves as Director of the NIH-funded BENFRA Botanical Dietary Supplements Research Center at OHSU, which studies Botanicals Enhancing Neurological and Functional Resilience in Aging. The center's recent efforts have focused on the popular dietary supplements gotu kola (Centella asiatica) and ashwagandha (Withania somnifera), both of which derive from traditional Ayurvedic medicine.