Active Phytochemicals from Chinese Herbal Medicines ─ Anti-Cancer Activities and Mechanisms

This book analyzes the pharmacology of active phytochemicals derived from traditional Chinese herbs used for the management of cancer and other diseases. It discusses the therapeutic uses of phytochemicals, adverse effects, and interactions with (western) cancer drugs. The book bridges the gap between western medicine and herbal medicines and provides useful information to medical doctors and scientists on how integrated medicines will work better towards cancer therapy.

Dr. Wing Shing Ho, PhD, is associate professor of the biochemistry programme of School of Life Sciences at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China. He earned his BS in biochemistry (1979) from the University of Alberta and MA in chemistry (1982) and PhD in biological chemistry (1985) from the State University of New York at Buffalo. After completing a postdoctoral training in the Pediatrics Department at SUNYAB, he moved to the Department of Chemistry of the University of Utah as a postdoc investigating the methodology of isolation and purification of DNA and subsequently moved to the Center for Human Toxicology of the University of Utah as a research associate investigating the role of hepatic toxicants on liver metabolism in lab animals. In 1994, Dr. Ho was appointed lecturer in the Department of Biochemistry and, in 2005, he was appointed associate professor at The Chinese University of Hong Kong and became an instrumental part of the toxicology programme in the School of Life Sciences.

Dr. Ho holds memberships in several professional associations, including the United States Society of Toxicology, the American Chemical Society, the New York Academy of Sciences, the American Institute of Chemists (fellow), and the Protein Society. He has been appointed a consultant scientist by professional groups and the local government, including Government Secretariat Home Affairs Bureau and the HK Chemical Waste Association.

Dr. Ho’s work has been supported in part by the university research grants from the Hong Kong Higher Education and Innovation and Technology Commission and the Croucher foundation. He has received awards from the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology for students’ papers.

Dr. Ho has authored and coauthored approximately 100 papers and proceedings in peer-reviewed international journals and hold patents on herbal medicines. He has contributed original data to Protein Data Bank (PDB) and has applied for patents under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) for anticancer agents in the United States. He lectures regularly to toxicology, college undergraduate, and graduate students. Dr. Ho continues to perform fundamental research on the cytotoxic effects of environmental and food chemicals and the development of therapeutic agents on cultured human cells and animal models.