CULLOWHEE – Western North Carolina’s growing natural products industry will be the focus of a gathering at Western Carolina University on Tuesday, June 10.
“WCU Summit on Natural Products: Education, Innovation and Vision” will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Blue Ridge Conference Room on the Cullowhee campus.
The summit is designed to provide an opportunity for participants to develop a shared academic and regional vision for natural products development in the region. In addition, WCU now has a new professional concentration in natural products as part of its master’s degree program in chemistry, and participants will work to identify opportunities for collaborations between the new concentration and the region.
The summit will include a keynote address titled “A Vision for Changing the World from Western (North) Carolina” by Floyd “Ski” Chilton, professor of physiology and pharmacology at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine. Chilton, author of the books “Inflammation Nation,” “The Gene Smart Diet” and “Mad to Crave Action Plan,” is an alumnus of WCU’s biology program.
A panel discussion on natural products development will be followed by a luncheon and remarks by WCU Chancellor David O. Belcher. An optional tour of WCU’s Millennial Campus will be offered after lunch.
Although the summit and luncheon are free to participants, preregistration is required. For more information or to register, go to graduate.wcu.edu and click on the summit link.
– WCU
