FEATURED AUTHOR

Paul Cox

Executive Director
Brain Chemistry Labs

I have lived in remote island villages searching for new medicines. I was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize and was named one of TIME magazine’s eleven “Heroes of Medicine” for my discovery of the HIV drug candidate prostratin. Seacology, which I founded, has set aside over 1.5 million acres of rain forest and coral reef in 65 countries around the world. I received my Ph.D. at Harvard and currently serve as the Executive Director of the Brain Chemistry Labs in Jackson Hole, Wyo

Biography

Paul Alan Cox
Curriculum Vitae

Education
Ph.D. (Biology) Harvard University 1981
A.M. (Biology) Harvard University 1978
M.Sc. (Ecology) University of Wales 1978
B.S. (Botany) Brigham Young University 1976

Postdoctoral Experience
Miller Research Fellow, Miller Institute for Basic Research in Science, University of California, Berkeley 1981-1983
Melbourne Research Fellow University of Melbourne 1985-1986

Academic Positions
Executive Director Institute for Ethnomedicine 2005-
Executive Director National Tropical Botanical Garden 1998-2004
Distinguished Professor  Brigham Young University–Hawaii 2000-2010
King Carl XVI Gustaf Professor of Environ. Sci. Swedish Agricultural University 1997-
Dean of General Education & Honors Brigham Young University 1993-1997
Professor Brigham Young University 1991-1998
Associate Professor Brigham Young University 1986-1991
Assistant Professor Brigham Young University 1983-1986
Visiting Professor Uppsala University 1990
Visiting Professor Umeå University 1990

Adjunct Professorships
Visiting Research Professor Department of Botany 2008-
Weber State University

Adjunct Professor Department of Pharmacognosy, 2006-
       University of Illinois, Chicago
Adjunct Professor Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical 2004-
        Garden, China

Affiliate Professor Ecology, Evolution and Conservation 1999-2005
                                 University of Hawaii

Honorary Degrees
Doctor of Humanities Weber State University 2011
D. Sc. Honoris Causa University of Guelph 2000
Fellow of the Pacific Hawaii Pacific University 1999

Academic Honors
Plenary Speaker XVII International Botanical Congress 2005
Plenary Speaker XXVI International Horticultural Congress 2002
E. K. Janaki Ammal Medal Society of Ethnobotanists, India 2000
Plenary Speaker XVI International Botanical Congress 1999
TIME Hero of Medicine Time Magazine 1997
Presidential Young Investigator Award National Science Foundation 1985-1990
Reynolds Lecturer Brigham Young University 1993
King of Sweden Speaker Royal Traveller's Club, Stockholm 1988
Danforth Fellow Danforth Foundation 1976-1981
Fulbright Fellow U.S. Government 1976-1977
N.S.F. Fellow National Science Foundation 1977-1981
Bowdoin Prize in English Harvard University 1981
Bowdoin Prize in English Harvard University 1978
Valedictorian, Highest Honors, Summa Cum Laude Brigham Young University 1976
Joseph Fielding Smith Scholar Brigham Young University 1971-1976

Teaching Honors
Teacher of the Year Botany Dept., Brigham Young University 1988, 1991-1993
Professor of the Year Brigham Young University 1988
Best overall teacher Brigham Young University 1997

Publications: Over 225 journal articles plus four books

Ten Most Cited Scholarly Works
1. Balick MJ, Cox PA. 1996. Plants, People and Culture: The Science of Ethnobotany. Scientific American Library, New York.
1,152 citations
2. Cox PA, Balick MJ. 1994. The ethnobotanical approach to drug discovery. Scientific American 270(6): 82-87.
646 citations
3. Cox PA, Banack SA, Murch SJ, Rasmussen U, Tien G, Bidigare RR, Metcalf JS, Morrison LF, Codd GA, Bergman B. 2005. Diverse taxa of cyanobacteria produce β-N-methylamino-L-alanine, a neurotoxic amino acid. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 102(14): 5074-5078.
616 citations
3. Cox PA, Banack SA, Murch SJ. 2003. Biomagnification of cyanobacterial neurotoxins and neurodegenerative disease among the Chamorro people of Guam. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 100(23):13380-13383.
549 citations
5. Murch SJ, Cox PA, Banack SA. 2004. A mechanism for slow release of biomagnified cyanobacterial neurotoxins and neurodegenerative disease in Guam. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 101(33): 12228-12231.
366 citations
6. Cox PA, Sacks OW. 2002. Cycad neurotoxins, consumption of flying foxes, and ALS-PDC disease in Guam. Neurology 58:956–959.
321 citations
7. Cox PA, Elmqvist T, Pierson ED, Rainey ED. 1991. Flying Foxes as Strong Interactors in South Pacific Island Ecosystems: A Conservation Hypothesis. Conservation Biology 5: 448-454.
315 citations
8. Cox PA. 2000. Will Tribal Knowledge Survive the Millennium? Science 287(5450): 44.
307 citations
9. Banack SA, Cox PA. 2003.  Biomagnification of cycad neurotoxins in flying foxes: implications for ALS-PDC in Guam. Neurology 61: 387-389.
257 citations
10. Metcalf JS, Banack SA, Lindsay J, Morrison LF, Cox PA, Codd GA. 2008. Co-occurrence of β-N-methylamino-L-alanine, a neurotoxic amino acid with other cyanobacterial toxins in British waterbodies, 1990–2004. Environmental Microbiology 10(3): 702-708. 246 citations

Education

PhD., Harvard University, 1981

Areas of Research / Professional Expertise

Personal Interests

Websites

Brain Chemistry Labs

Books

Featured Title

News

Anthropologist interviews Plants, People, & Culture authors

By: Paul Cox

Anthropologist Ann Armbrecht interviews Plants, People, and Culture authors Mike Balick and Paul Alan Cox about their new book in a webinar sponsored by the American Botanical Council. Over 2300 people attended the live webinar.

Videos

Anthropologist interviews Plants, People, and Culture authors

Published: Sep 23, 2020

Anthropologist Ann Armbrecht interviews Plants, People, and Culture authors Michael J. Balick and Paul Alan Cox

What's new in this book? Michael Balick and Paul Alan Cox are excited about PPC.

Published: Sep 10, 2020

Ethnobotanist Anthony Amend from the University of Hawaiiinterviews coauthors Michael Balick at Paul Alan Cox

Ethnobotany: Plants, People, & Culture

Published: Sep 09, 2020

A Maori treasure box, a Saami reindeer milking bowl, and a Gosiute winnowing basket reveal the genius of indigenous people in using plants.