The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is announcing its intention to receive and consider a cooperative agreement with the University of Mississippi (UM) to support the National Center for Natural Products Research (NCNPR).

The purpose of this partnership with NCNPR will be to promote more efficient

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development and dissemination of natural products research and science and will complement the diverse activities of both the public and private sectors.

Specifically, this cooperative agreement will provide continued support in order that UM-NCNPR can continue to:(1) assist in the identification and development of a prioritized list of botanical ingredients based on safety concerns, trends and knowledge of botanical ingredients in foods, dietary supplements, and cosmetics marketed in the U.S.; (2) acquire, validate and characterize authenticated reference materials, including raw and processed plant materials and purified natural products of relevance to FDA for evaluation of safety; (3) exchange technical and scientific information, methods and reference material with FDA scientists and other stakeholders; (4) collaborate with FDA scientists in research areas of mutual interest; (5) coordinate scientific workshops and conferences on botanical topics of public health relevance to address high priority science and research needs.