Ethnomedicine Laboratory

Currently, the Ethnomedicine Laboratory is housed in a 30 ft X 19 ft air-conditioned room.
This laboratory generates first-hand field information on ethnomedicinal practices for their scientific validation as the studies on ethnomedicines are the pioneer natural attempts to combat human afflictions.
This laboratory is engaged in documenting traditional practices, collecting and identifying medicinal plants, and developing pharmacognostic and quality profiles of the medicinal plant and plant products used by indigenous communities.
The laboratory is also involved in developing crude drug discovery and herbaria.
This laboratory focuses on the therapeutic aspect of medicinal plants and the safety assessment of the medicinal plants/plant products used by the tribal people.
The safety assessment is carried out through different toxicity studies, i.e. dermato-toxicity, embryotoxicity, neurotoxicity etc, in the zebrafish model.
Screening the medicinal plants collected from different tribal populated areas of Odisha for their antiviral activities is also a significant laboratory focus.
The laboratory also screens different medicinal plants/Lichens for their anticancer activities.