Sunday, 30 August 2026 • From 15:00 to 18:00 • Clovis amphitheater

Coordinator: PD Dr. rer. nat. habil. Cica Vissiennon, Universität Leipzig, Germany, cica.vissiennon@uni-leipzig.de

African Research Network Workshop on Natural Products Research

Pre-Congress Workshop: African Natural Products Research – Current Trends and Future Perspectives

Date & Time: Sunday, August 30, 2026, 3:00 PM – 6:00 PM

Venue: Congress Centre Reims, Reims, France

Format: Hybrid Event – Attend in person (Registration fee: 25 €) or join online for free via Zoom (Registration link: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/CW7ehNECQ8C7gb0je5fa-Q)

About the Workshop

The African Research Network invites you to a pre-congress workshop as part of the 74th International Congress and Annual Meeting of the Society for Medicinal Plant and Natural Product Research (GA 2026). This event will focus on current research trends, innovations, and collaborative opportunities in African medicinal plants and natural products.

The workshop aims to showcase natural products research by African scientists and their international partners, strengthen networks across the continent and beyond, and stimulate new ideas for translation, innovation, and capacity building.

Program Highlights

Impulse Lecture

Prof. Fidèle Ntie-Kang, University of Buea, Cameroon
Drug Discovery Inspired by African Natural Products (20 min)

 Short Lecture Sessions

Two dedicated sessions featuring selected presentations by African scientists and international partners (15 min each), covering topics including microbial diversity, medicinal plant safety, business models for natural products, and more.

Flash Talks

5 pre-recorded online presentations from remote participants (3 min presentation + 1 min discussion each).

 Pitch Competition Winner Presentation

The winner of the ARN African Entrepreneurs in Natural Products Research Pitch Competition 2026 will present their innovation at the workshop (5 min).

Coffee Break & Networking an opportunity to connect with fellow researchers and practitioners.

Registration & Participation

Join us for this unique opportunity to connect with peers, explore pioneering research, and address the pressing challenges and exciting prospects in the field of natural products research in Africa!

Format Fee
In-person (Congress Centre Reims) €25
Online via Zoom Webinar Free

Abstract submission is now closed. Selected presenters have been notified by the congress organizers.

🔗 Online registration link: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/CW7ehNECQ8C7gb0je5fa-Q  

About the African Research Network (ARN)

The African Research Network is a thematic network of the Society for Medicinal Plant and Natural Product Research (GA), dedicated to fostering research, innovation, and collaboration in African natural products. The ARN connects researchers, young scientists, industry representatives, and policymakers across Africa and globally.

ARN speaker’

Fidele Ntie-Kang is an Associate Professor of Pharmaceutical Chemistry at the Department of Chemistry, University of Buea in Cameroon, where he also heads the Centre for Drug Discovery. After studying chemistry and physics at the University of Douala in Cameroon, he completed a PhD in physical science at the Center for Atomic Molecular Physics and Quantum Optics (CEPAMOQ), University of Douala, focusing on computer-aided drug design. After working briefly at the Department of Chemistry (University of Buea), he moved to Germany where he carried out postdoctoral research under Prof. Wolfgang Sippl leading to a habilitation in pharmaceutical chemistry. His research has been focused on chemoinformatics for natural products research, a topic in which he is an editor of a book series. Besides, his team has been building and testing small molecules of natural and synthetic origin in the search for active molecules, e.g. antivirals, antimalarials, antidiabetics, and anticancer agents. He holds several editorial board appointments and is passionate about drug discovery from natural products identified from African medicinal plants as well as pseudo-natural products derived by fragment-based hybridization. He has received several awards, including the Commonwealth Professional Fellowship (Leeds, UK), Georg Forster postdoctoral fellowship from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (Bonn, Germany), the Calestous Juma Science Leadership Fellowship from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (1 million US Dollars) and another joint grant awarded by the BMGF and LifeArc to develop an African-derived Natural Product Box. He is a part of several consortia, including being a founding member of the Grand Challenges African Drug Discovery Accelerator (GC-ADDA) consortium and a founding member of the Cameroon Academy of Young Scientists. He was previously a guest professor at the Technische Universitaet (Dresden, Germany) and an adjunct professor at Nelson-Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology (Arusha, Tanzania). His major contribution is the development of the African Natural Products Database. He is the 2025 Royal Society of Chemistry Natural Product Reports Emerging Investigator Lectureship award winner, the first African to receive the award and a member of the first cohort of the Cameroon Academy of Young Scientists. He has published over 150 papers and has been cited over 5,000 times (with an H-index of 39).