The Annual Atkins Garden Walk
Every summer, scientists in the UIC Pharmacognosy Institute host the Annual Atkins Garden Walk, an open house that is free and open to the public. It includes time to explore the garden, to discuss medicinal plants with researchers from the College of Pharmacy, and to hear a scientific lecture on a topic related to medicinal plants.
Atkins Garden Walk - Friday, August 21, 2026
2026 Norman R. Farnsworth Lectureship in Pharmacognosy:
Dr. Robert Verpoorte from the University of Leiden in the Netherlands will deliver a lecture on “The Acknowledgments – Collaborative Research in Pharmacognosy.”
Robert Verpoorte is Professor Emeritus of Pharmacognosy in the Section Plant Sciences at the Institute of Biology Leiden. His natural products laboratory has studied various aspects of natural products, including the isolation and identification of biologically active compounds, their biosynthesis, and the metabolic engineering of relevant biosynthetic pathways. The development of metabolomics and the natural deep eutectic solvents have been his more recent major interests. Dr. Verpoorte’s work resulted in more than 800 publications, 6 patents, and 3 books. His publication portfolio places him among the 1% most cited authors (Clarivate, Web of Science), and the Stanford University ranking of scientists places him in position 45 out of the top-2% (134,814) of authors in the field of chemistry (99.99933 percentile).
Previous Lectures
2025
Norman R. Farnsworth Lectureship in Pharmacognosy: “Nature Meets Technology: A Revolution for Pharmacognosy?” – presented by Dr. Jean-Luc Wolfender
2024
Norman R. Farnsworth Lectureship in Pharmacognosy: “An Ethnopharmacology Tale of Drug Development: The Antipsychotic Alstonine” – presented by Dr. Elaine Elisabetsky
2023
“Collaborative Research to discover new drug leads and a Love Affair with the Atkins Medicinal Plant Garden: A Journey” – presented by Dr. D. Doel Soejarto
2022
“Lichens – evolutionary insights into colorful chemical factories” – presented by Dr. Thorsten Lumbsch
2021 (Hydrid event w/online lecture and virtual walk)
“Plant Medicines in Integrative Cancer Care” – presented by Dr. Charlotte Gyllenhaal
2020 (Virtual Event)
This year featured a virtual tour led by the Director of the Atkins Garden, Dr. Doel Soejarto, and organized by the following pharmacognosy experts and contributors: Dr. Bethany Elkington, Dr. James Graham, Dr. Jonathan Bisson, Dr. Bernard Santarsiero, and Dr. Guido Pauli.
2019
“Superfruits – Why are they good for you?” – presented by Dr. David Seigler
2018
“What is in a name? The complexity of Medicinal Plant Products” – presented by Dr. Joseph Betz
2017
no speaker
2016 – Tenth Garden Walk
“Medicinal plants in relation to diet: global ethnobotanical and laboratory insights for the health of contemporary North Americans” – presented by Dr. Timothy Johns
2015
“Medical Ethnobotany and the Discovery of New Drugs for Antibiotic Resistance Infections” – presented by Dr. Cassandra L. Quave
2014
“Understanding Traditional Healing Plants of Tropical Rainforest in Northern South America” – presented by Dr. Memory Elvin-Lewis
2013
“In Quest of Tomorrow’s Medicine from Native Plants of the Prairie” – presented by Dr. Barbara Timmermann
2012
“Ethnobotany and the Discovery of New Drugs” – presented by Dr. Paul A. Cox
2011
“Recent Advances in the Development of Anticancer Agents from Plants and Other Natural Sources” – presented by Dr. Gordon M. Cragg
2010
“From Folk Medicine to Phytomedicine: Medicinal Plants in the Modern World” – presented by Steven Foster
2009
“Conservation & Preservation of Medicinal & Aromatic Plants: Effects of Climate Change & Direct Human Activity & Solutions” – presented by Mark Blumenthal
2008 (2-day event)
- Harald Schwarz (Hopsteiner – S.S. Steiner, Inc., New York): “Hop growing and usage”
- Bethany Elkington (Ph.D. candidate, College of Pharmacy, University of Illinois at Chicago): “Biological evaluation of plants of Laos used in the treatment of tuberculosis in Lao Traditional Medicine”
- Paul Matthew (Hopsteiner – S.S. Steiner, Inc., New York): “Towards metabolic engineering of phytoestrogen content of hops”
- Norman Farnsworth (College of Pharmacy, University of Illinois at Chicago): “Medicinal Plants of the United States used in Disease Treatment”
- Gail Mahady (College of Pharmacy, University of Illinois at Chicago): “Medicinal Plants from Central America used in Women’s Health”
2007 (1st Garden Walk – 2-day event)
- Keith Block (Block Center for Integrative Cancer Care, Evanston, Illinois): “Plants and cancer: Diet and botanicals”
- Judy Bolton (College of Pharmacy, University of Illinois at Chicago): “Botanical dietary supplements as natural hormone replacement therapy”
- Norman Farnsworth (College of Pharmacy, University of Illinois at Chicago): “Work at the UIC/NIH Center for Botanical Dietary Supplements Research for Women’s Health”
- Greg Stack (University of Illinois Extension, Urbana-Champaign/Illinois Urban Programs Resource Network): “Making Medicinal Plants Part of the Ornamental Garden”
- Djaja Doel Soejarto (College of Pharmacy, University of Illinois at Chicago): “Discovering Plants That Cure”