Dr. Quave has been actively involved in scientific research since her teenage years, and an interest in drug discovery blossomed early when she chose to study drug resistance patterns in Escherichia coli for a childhood science fair project. Since then, a combined love for medicine, microbiology, and ethnobotany have led her to discover her current research pathway. Several of the research projects that she has worked on in recent years are outlined below.
2009-2011, Post-doctoral training: Antibiofilm properties of natural products from medicinal plants of Italy. Dr. Quave’s post doctoral fellowship at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences was conducted under the mentorship of Dr. Mark Smeltzer and Dr. Cesar Compadre and was supported by a National Institute of Health (NIH) NCCAM National Research Service Award (F32). The aim of this project was to assess the efficacy of certain plant extracts in the context of treating and/or preventing staphylococcal biofilm-associated infection. Bioassay-guided fractionation techniques were employed as a tool in the isolation of the active constituents.
2003-2008, Rionero Alto-Bradano area, Basilicata Province, southern Italy. Doctoral Research – An Ethnopharmacological Approach to Multidrug-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus: Evaluation of Italian Plants used in the Traditional Healing of Skin Disease. Quave’s doctoral dissertation field research project began in April 2006 in the Vulture-Alto Bradano Region of Lucania, southern Italy. This study was conducted under the mentorship of Dr. Bradley C. Bennett at Florida International University and was funded through a National Institute of Health (NIH) NCCAM National Research Service Award (F31 and T32), a Botany in Action Fellowship, Ann Chatham Fellowship (Garden Club of America), and a USDA Agroecology Scholarship for field research. Quave’s dissertation committee members included: Dr. Brad Bennett (committee chair), Dr. Lisa Plano, Dr. Kelsey Downum, Dr. Lidia Kos, Dr. BM Golam Kibria, and Dr. Rebecca Zarger.
2001-2003, Rionero Alto-Bradano area, Basilicata Province, southern Italy. Wild food plants, medicinal foods, ethnopharmacy and ritual healing among historical Albanians and southern-Italians in Lucania (in a comparative perspective), and the evaluation of the nutraceutical potential of traditionally consumed non-cultivated vegetables. These field studies were conducted together with Dr. Andrea Pieroni, Dr. Sabine Nebel, Dr. Harald Münz and Dr. Maria Elena Giusti. Funding sources for the project included a two-year Mars Nutritional Research Council Awardship (assigned to A. Pieroni), a 3-year EU-funded research consortium coordinated by Dr. Michael Heinrich (University of London School of Pharmacy), a two-year Bennigsen-Price grant of the Ministry of Science of the Land North-Rhine Westphalia, Germany (assigned to H. Münz), a National Kappa Alpha Theta Foundation grant (assigned to C. Quave), and a Foundation for Science and Disability Award (assigned to C. Quave).
1999-2000, Río Napo, Tamanco Jurisdiction, Peruvian Amazon. Medicinal plants, ethnopharmacy, and the use of traditional medicines for the treatment of childhood helminthiasis among Yagua, Maijuna, and ribereño communities in the Tamanco Jurisdiction of the Napo River basin. This field study was funded by the Emory College International Scholars Program. A portion of this project was conducted together with a local curandero, Don Antonio Montero Pisco at the ethnobotanical garden of the Amazon Center for Environmental Education and Research (ACEER) research camp. This undergraduate research project was supervised by Dr. Larry Wilson (Fernbank Museum of Natural History), Dr. Peter Brown (Emory University, Professor of Anthropology) and Dr. Michelle Lampl (Emory University, Professor of Anthropology).
