musings on medicines from the Earth
Abel Pharmboy is the nom de plume of an academic researcher and educator who holds a PhD in Pharmacology. He writes on natural product drugs and dietary supplements, academic career development, medical journalism and, occasionally, making and listening to music and, with the help of his colleague, Erleichda, wine appreciation.
Terra Sigillata is the name of the first authenticated, trademarked drug.
"Why Terra Sigillata?" will tell you more about the origin of the blog name.
You can learn quickly the distinction between the fields of Pharmacology, Pharmacognosy, Pharmacy, the Pharmaceutical Sciences by clicking on the hyperlinks.
Learn more about the author and the origin of "Abel Pharmboy" here.
Please feel free to contact me off-blog by e-mail to abelpharmboy (at) gmail (dot) com.
Please read the DISCLAIMER for details on the blog's intended audience, advertising and comment policy, and how not to use the information presented herein.
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September 29, 2006
Category: The Friday Fermentable
Just clearing out the MSM that finds its way into Chez Pharmboy and was totally taken by a brief gadget alert on wine stuff written by Rebecca Hall in the Enterprise section of the 2 October issue of Newsweek: Toying...
Posted by Abel Pharmboy at 3:28 PM • 2 Comments •
Category: The Friday Fermentable
In late August, our colleague and correspondent Erleichda conducted a winetasting of some offerings from Virginia, picked up on a tour with his beloved Sweetpea. The tasting fell on PharmPreKer's birthday, so we were unable to make it, but here...
Posted by Abel Pharmboy at 8:59 AM • 3 Comments •
September 28, 2006
Category: Politics
While not being much of a political blogger, I thought nevertheless that readers might be interested in these six, well-written letters to the editor of the New York Times (registration req'd) regarding our president's response to the latest National Intelligence...
Posted by Abel Pharmboy at 8:33 AM • 0 Comments •
September 26, 2006
Category: Science education
Dr Bruce Alberts, recently departed president of the US National Academy of Sciences and Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics at UCSF, just spoke this morning at a symposium celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Duke University School of Medicine. The...
Posted by Abel Pharmboy at 10:42 AM • 4 Comments •
September 24, 2006
Category: Love for Terra Sig readers
I completely missed it: a rather momentous occasion in the life of this blog. The ScienceBlogs.com version of Terra Sigillata just passed the traffic volume of the old site on Wednesday, 20 Sept at 9:14 pm EDT with a visitor...
Posted by Abel Pharmboy at 2:42 PM • 3 Comments •
September 23, 2006
Category: Blogging community
The other day, Coturnix alluded to Simon Owens of Bloggasm and his survey of blogosphere diversity. I neglected to note that I was one of the respondents. Simon's questions were: 1. What niche does your blog fall into (Examples: Political,...
Posted by Abel Pharmboy at 12:02 AM • 0 Comments •
September 21, 2006
Category: Music
This post should actually be called, "Driving Mister Tim," in recognition of the delightful day I just spent here with Pandora Internet Radio founder and chief strategic officer, Tim Westergren. Tim was in the area for a couple of town...
Posted by Abel Pharmboy at 8:52 PM • 4 Comments •
September 20, 2006
Category: Justice
Very serious stuff today, folks. Five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian physician remain imprisoned in Libya, where they have been since 1999 based on trumped-up charges that they infected with HIV some 400 patients. Misinterpretation and translation mistakes of a...
Posted by Abel Pharmboy at 8:46 PM • 1 Comments •
Category: Botanical/Herbal Medicines
Curcumin has been much in the news as of late as considerable cell culture data has been suggestive of the compound's utility in cancer prevention and cancer treatment. The impetus for me speaking on this has been the recent report...
Posted by Abel Pharmboy at 8:33 PM • 2 Comments •
Category: Music
A very exciting day here in the Southland as Tim Westergren, Pandora co-founder, comes to the area for town hall meetings with Pandora listeners at UNC and in Durham. Have you used Pandora and its Music Genome Project algorithm for...
Posted by Abel Pharmboy at 7:22 AM • 1 Comments •
September 17, 2006
Category: Research
This year's recipients of the Lasker Awards were announced yesterday. These awards from The Lasker Foundation are often referred to as the "American Nobels." The award for Basic Medical Research went to three scientists for "the prediction and discovery of...
Posted by Abel Pharmboy at 9:04 PM • 0 Comments •
Category: The Friday Fermentable
A back alley conversation among several ScienceBloggers is the impetus for this week's post. A couple of weeks ago, Dave Munger over at Cognitive Daily asked all of us about our favorite cheap wine deals. So, with the permission of...
Posted by Abel Pharmboy at 3:53 PM • 2 Comments •
September 13, 2006
Category: Politics
I applauded Keith Olbermann in this space two weeks ago. I finally got around tonight to reading his commentary presented Monday night at Ground Zero. Apologies to my readers who may be overwhelmed by all of the 9/11 attention this...
Posted by Abel Pharmboy at 11:46 PM • 1 Comments •
September 12, 2006
Category: Chemistry
I have to admit to feeling a bit unnerved by smelling fire all day yesterday, the anniversary of the US terrorist attacks. Little did I know that we've got a little case of overzealous municipal composting gone awry: A massive...
Posted by Abel Pharmboy at 11:50 PM • 3 Comments •
Category: Blogging community
Writing under this masthead for the past three months has been a great privilege, interacting with some really outstanding thinkers and writers in science, medicine, and society. We've got real journalists, scientists, physicians, students here, each of whom bring a...
Posted by Abel Pharmboy at 9:16 AM • 0 Comments •
September 11, 2006
Category: Personal
Let me tell you about John Michael Griffin, Jr. Griff, as he was known in high school, was a friend of mine. Late in the first half of our lives, he stood up for me physically and philosophically, for being...
Posted by Abel Pharmboy at 8:46 AM • 3 Comments •
September 10, 2006
Category: Newsclips
Most of last week's posts were about music, so I thought I'd round out the holy trinity of sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll. Traveling this weekend gave me an opportunity to indulge in one of my secret guilty pleasures:...
Posted by Abel Pharmboy at 11:53 AM • 0 Comments •
September 9, 2006
Category: Florida
Another reason I reposted yesterday on my Stetson Kennedy visit in January was to also note some bad news that came my way this week. Steve Blackwell, Florida folk guitarist and magnificent songwriter, lost his battle with malignant melanoma last...
Posted by Abel Pharmboy at 12:34 PM • 2 Comments •
September 8, 2006
Category: REPOST (Classic Terra Sig)
Next month, the family Pharmboy is headed down to Beluthahatchee, Florida, to help celebrate the 90th birthday of famed human rights legend, Stetson Kennedy, the subject of some Woody Guthrie lyrics put to music by Billy Bragg and Wilco. Among...
Posted by Abel Pharmboy at 7:49 AM • 0 Comments •
September 6, 2006
Category: Music
From BBC News, "With the fight against illegal downloading of songs starting to pay off, the music business has set its sights on a new enemy on the internet - websites which transcribe pop songs into musical notation." Not content...
Posted by Abel Pharmboy at 11:03 AM • 5 Comments •
Category: Florida
My ScienceBlogs.com colleague, Alex Palazzo at The Daily Transcript, has just posted on the announcement of a 3rd major San Diego/La Jolla research institute with plans to establish a presence in Florida. Current issues of Roman numeral mixups notwithstanding, Florida...
Posted by Abel Pharmboy at 9:52 AM • 0 Comments •
September 4, 2006
Category: Diet and Health
If you've read Michael Pollan's, The Omnivore's Dilemma, and you still eat beef, chances are that you prefer to purchase grass-fed over corn-fed feedlot beef. The advantages include a more humane lifestyle for the animals and less fat for the...
Posted by Abel Pharmboy at 6:55 PM • 3 Comments •
Category: Navel-gazing
"Labor Day differs in every essential way from the other holidays of the year in any country," said Samuel Gompers, founder and longtime president of the American Federation of Labor. "All other holidays are in a more or less degree...
Posted by Abel Pharmboy at 8:26 AM • 0 Comments •
September 1, 2006
Category: The Friday Fermentable
Another Wine Escapade : The Tuscan Dinner by Erleichda, special guest correspondent to The Friday Fermentable (Note to readers: As mentioned in previous editions, guest-blogger Erleichda is a slightly more senior colleague with a much more experienced and seasoned palate....
Posted by Abel Pharmboy at 8:04 PM • 2 Comments •
Category: Research funding
Interesting to see the Wall Street Journal this morning with an article carrying this title (here, but subscription req'd - hence, I will quote heavily). Everyone knows that US NIH funding cuts have made it difficult for all academics who...
Posted by Abel Pharmboy at 10:45 AM • 1 Comments •
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