Spotlighting Geoffrey W. Abbott’s Herbal Intelligence

Can cilantro treat epileptic seizures? Will lavender and fennel help lower your blood pressure?

These are some of the secrets of herbal medicine being explored by Geoffrey W. Abbott, PhD, vice dean of basic science research and professor of physiology and biophysics in UC Irvine’s School of Medicine.

So Abbott’s research was a perfect fit for the Spring 2025 issue of The Anteater, which digs into the many ways food weaves itself into the Anteater experience — from iconic campus bites to alumni-founded eateries making waves to groundbreaking research at the intersection of health, sustainability and food systems. Included in the issue is a “faculty focus” spotlighting Abbott’s research into herbal medicines that hold promise for treating serious diseases.

“I realized we could use state-of-the-art research techniques to understand things that have been used in folk medicine for thousands of years,” says Abbott.

Learn more about the Abbott Lab and its leading-edge research in “Herbal Intelligence: Hard Science Meets Nature’s Medicine.”