On behalf of the National Center for Natural Products Research, School of Pharmacy, and the University of Mississippi, we would like to welcome you to our conference entitled "8th International Conference on the Science of Botanicals" This conference is supported through a cooperative agreement between the NCNPR and the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) of the Food and Drug Administration. Co-sponsors are: CFSAN/FDA, Shanghai Institute of Material Medica/CAS, China; The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR-India); the Society for Medicinal Plant Research (GA); Institute of Indigenous Medicine (IIM), Sri Lanka, and the American Society of Pharmacognosy (ASP). We are excited to present a program featuring a roster of internationally recognized experts and researchers in the field of botanicals.