Prof. Pamela Weathers Co-chaired a session (w/ Meirong Jia) Terpenoids in Pharmacology and Pharmacognosy. at TERPNET 2025, Brisbane, Australia Aug. 4-8, 2025. She also presented an invited talk entitled: Do we always need to deliver therapeutics as pure drugs? Artemisia as an example.
On Sept. 18 Prof. Weathers and her PhD student, Samuel Isife, each were invited and participated in a Webinar sponsored by the National University of Natural Medicine and entitled: Exploring Artemisia: From Tradition to Modern Medicine (https://nunm.edu/events/exploring-artemisia-from-tradition-to-modern-medicine/) Sam’s talk focused on his home country of Nigeria and malaria with notes on the use of Artemisia: Artemisia annua Use for Malaria in Africa: Evidence from Nigeria . Prof. Weathers talk was on: Artemisia, potent vs. many diseases with TB as an example.
Prof. Weathers also attended and gave two invited talks at the 1st Artemisia Symposium at the Aga Khan University’s Arusha Climate and Environmental Research Centre (AKU-ACER) October 8-10, 2025 in Arusha Tanzania. Her two talks were:
[1] Differential effects of Artemisia sp. and artemisinins on dermal fibrosis. Abstract and proceedings paper co-authored with Melissa Towler and 3 recent WPI (’25) students Trevor Bush, Meghan Urakawa, and Eliza Dutson,
[2] Phytochemical changes in clonal Artemisia annua L. grown in the US. Abstract and proceedings co-authored with Melissa Towler. Prof. Weathers was also a member of the scientific organizing committee for this first Artemisia Symposium, and she Chaired a session on Veterinary Uses of Artemisia. Photos attached along with the AKU ACER news item here: https://www.aku.edu/news/Pages/News_Details.aspx?nid=NEWS-003684
After the Artemisia Tanzania conference Prof. Weathers went on safari, which was incredible and highly recommended. It was one of her bucket list items!
Some pictures are included above: on safari w/ giraffe, at Arusha conference, and w/ Maasai kids
Prestigious Ulysses S. Seal Award recognizes groundbreaking work in plant cryopreservation and global leadership in saving “exceptional plants.”
Dr. Valerie Pence was named the 2025 winner of the prestigious Ulysses S. Seal Award for Innovation in Conservation by the Conservation Planning Specialist Group (CPSG) of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). This significant international honor is awarded every other year to a candidate who exemplifies innovation in the application of science to conservation and whose work reflects CPSG values of creative thinking that results in improved conservation actions. Since its beginning in 2003, this is the first time the award has been presented for plant, rather than animal, conservation.
Valerie has focused her life’s work on developing successful tissue culture and cryopreservation protocols for many of the nation’s imperiled plants. She coined the term “exceptional plants” to call attention to those species that cannot be seed-banked and were being overlooked during conventional seed conservation efforts. Today, both the term and the need are recognized by conservationists worldwide, embraced by botanical gardens, and included in global plant conservation strategies, all of which create a brighter future for thousands of Earth’s rare floral species. [Edited from the CREW Review, Fall, 2025, and CZBG news text]
Viscon Group Launches VitroFlow Select at SVPW Symposium – Advancing Plant Tissue Culture Automation
At the end of November, Viscon Group proudly sponsored and headlined the annual fall symposium of the Society for Plant Biotechnology and Tissue Culture (SVPW) in the Netherlands. This event brought together leading minds in plant biotechnology, a space where science and industry converged to share knowledge and shape the future of tissue culture. For Viscon, it was the ideal stage to unveil VitroFlow Select, our latest automation solution for plant propagation, get an impression of the launch Viscon Plant Technology – SVPW Fall ’25 Symposium.
Introducing VitroFlow Select
Suzane Pols, researcher at Viscon Group, presented “We Grow with the Flow”, introducing VitroFlow Select to the scientific community. Her talk highlighted Viscon’s mission: transforming delicate, labor-intensive processes into scalable, precise, and data-driven workflows.
“Introducing VitroFlow Select felt like opening a new chapter in plant biotechnology. The enthusiasm and ideas it generated reaffirm our belief that collaboration drives innovation.” – Suzane Pols, Viscon Group
Key Capabilities
VitroFlow Select automates one of the most challenging steps in plant propagation: identifying and transferring microscopic plant material such as somatic embryos, callus, and other early-stage tissues. Using high-resolution imaging and AI-driven morphology analysis, the system selects viable specimens and transfers them with surgical precision—all within a sterile, HEPA-filtered environment.
- Hundreds of samples per hour for unmatched throughput
- Automated lid handling for seamless workflow
- Full data traceability with integrations in LIMS
- Liquid-to-liquid transfer for sterility and reduced contamination
The launch immediately sparked conversations around expanding automation into solid media workflows, showing once again that innovation accelerates when industry and research explore possibilities together.
A Day of Shared Innovation
The symposium itself was a vibrant mix of science, collaboration, and forward-looking insights. The day opened with Remko Offringa, setting a curious and collaborative tone. Magnus Hertzberg, CTO of SweTree Technologies AB, delivered a compelling keynote on enabling large-scale plant production through somatic embryogenesis, a vision aligning closely with our own automation ambitions.
Later, Frank Kors from Duchefa Biochemie captivated the audience with “Agar, What’s in a Name?”, revealing just how much composition variability can influence results in tissue culture.
The afternoon brought more groundbreaking research to the stage:
- Charles Underwood explored directing meiosis for apomixis
- Tanya Radoeva shared insights into nature’s own cloning strategies
- Follow-up sessions touched on genome editing and hairy root transformation
Throughout the coffee breaks and networking sessions, the room buzzed with conversations about scaling tissue culture, integrating automation, and pushing for more sustainable practices. It was a refreshing mix of academic curiosity and practical, real-world vision. Exactly the kind of environment where new ideas take root.
Submitted by Kasia Meerman
