Traditional and Modern Medicine Research and Development Directorate

The directorate has four divisions

•  Traditional Medicine and Nutraceuticals Research and Development Division
  (TMNRDD)
• Safety and Efficacy research and development Division
• Medicine Formulation and Quality control Research and Development Division
• Modern Medicine and In Silico Research and Development Division, MMIRDD

Traditional Medicine and Nutraceuticals Research and Development Division
(TMNRDD)
The Traditional Medicine and Nutraceuticals Research and Development Division focuses on
the phytochemical analysis of natural products, identify active ingredients, characterization
and structural elucidations of herbal medicines, protocol development on quality analysis of
herbal medicines and nutraceuticals, for commonly utilized traditional medicines and priority
public health problems of the country.
Major activities of Traditional Medicine and Nutraceuticals Research and Development
Division.
Collect, scientifically identify and authenticate medicinal plants selected for various
laboratory investigation.

• Preparation of crude extracts and other fractions for bioassays.
• Chemical screening of plants, animals, mineral substances and nutraceuticals used in
  traditional medicine.
• Bioassay guided separation of active substances of plant, mineral or animal origin
  used in traditional medicine.
• Characterize and identify of biologically active ingredient for potentially candidate
  medicinal plants and nutraceuticals.
• Structure elucidation of biologically active isolated compounds.
• Conduct Structural elucidation of bioactive natural products.
• Establish thematic botanical gardens for conservation of medicinal and endangered plants.
• Establish national medicinal plant herbarium for preservation of medicinal plants
• develop products of standardized and validated herbal medicine and other source of
  natural products for Clinical Trials
• provide consultancy services to public and industrial sectors
• Develop quality control protocol for marketed traditional medicines
• Conduct survey on Traditional Medicines and Traditional Medicine Practice
• Liaises with the statutory bodies for the regulation and control of Traditional Medicine products and practices and to provide support in the performance of their
  functions
• Develop personnel with high expertise in phytomedicine and nutraceuticals

Medicine Formulation and Quality control Research and Development Division
The division focuses on the development of production packages from validated herbal medicines for the treatment of major public health problems of the country. The division studies the appropriate dosage form design, quality and specifications of herbal preparations,
standardization of herbal products and determines the stability of the herbal products in the country.
Major activities of the Division;

• Carry out studies on value-added safe and standardized herbal products, nutraceuticals
  and other source of natural products.
• Study methods of production of traditional medicines of proven therapeutic efficacy,
  safety and quality.
• Carry out appropriate dosage forms from validated and standardized herbal products,nutraceuticals and other source of natural products
• Conduct the quality control of herbal products, nutraceuticals and other source of natural products.
• Develop appropriate quality control protocol of herbal products, nutraceuticals and other source of natural products.
• Carry out studies the quality (physic-chemical, adulterants/substandard) of modern medicines and herbal medicine in the Ethiopian market.
• Develop Ethiopian herbal products, nutraceuticals and other source of natural products recipe (Product Packages).
• Carry out stability study and develop stability protocol for formulated products from herbal products, nutraceuticals and other source of natural products.
• Liaises with industry and local manufacturers for the possibility of the production of Ethiopian Traditional medicine.
• Develop products of standardized and validated herbal medicine and other source of natural products for Clinical Trials.
• Develop personnel with high expertise in phytomedicine development
• Provide consultancy services to public and industrial sectors.

Modern Medicine and In Silico Research and Development Division, MMIRDD
The MMIRDD is one of the four divisions of Traditional and Modern Medicine Research and Development Directorate (TMMRDD), established by the Council of Minister’s Regulation No.530/2023. MMIRDD was established following the integration of TMMRDD to Armauer
Hansen Research Institute (AHRI) with a primary focus on conducting research on modern medicine and leveraging interdisciplinary research approach that combines advanced computational techniques with traditional medicinal research to accelerate the discovery and
development of drugs. By combining conventional medicine and various natural product scaffolds with AI/ML-driven approaches, the division aimed to streamline the process and discovery of new therapeutic agents. Furthermore, the establishment of the Ethiopian Traditional Medicine data repository, herbal monographs, pharmacopeia and a digital library of traditional medicine underscores the commitment of the MMIRDD to preserving and advancing traditional medicinal knowledge in Ethiopia.
Research thematic areas of the division:

• Research on AI/ML Based drug discovery and development
• Research on Modern Medicine (Pharmacovigilance and drug safety,
  pharmacoepidimology, pharmacodynamics, pharmacogenetics, pharmacogenomics,
  pharmacometrics, pharmacology and toxicology, Antimicrobial Drug Resistance (AMR), rational uses of drugs, pharmaceutical quality etc…)
• Development of Ethiopian Traditional Medicine Data repository and Herbal
  monograph and pharmacopeia.
• Establishing Digital library of traditional medicine.
• Systematic review and meta-analysis on Ethiopian indigenous medicinal knowledge and practices (IMPKs).
• Documenting Ethiopian indigenous medicinal knowledge and practices (IMPKs).
  Safety and Efficacy Research and Development Division

This division studies the efficacy, safety and quality of traditional medicines and
nutracuticals, elucidation of the mechanism of action of natural product extract, fraction and compound for its medicinal properties. The research activities include various biological testing (In vitro and In vivo) using standardized assay procedures to determine the biological properties and medicinal potentials of medicinal plants,

nutraceuticals and other source of natural products either as extracts, pure chemical
constituents or herbal preparations and also modern medicines.
Major Activities of the division

• undertake research on natural products for pre-clinical studies to determine the
  toxicological and pharmacological effects
• Establish and conduct the pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics of herbal and
  other source of natural products: to look at the mechanism of action of the herbal
  medicine, nutraceuticals and other source of natural products
• Undertake microbiological quality analysis of herbal medicine, nutraceuticals and
  other source of natural products
• conduct general Toxicology, reproductive toxicity and Genotoxicity of the herbal
  medicine, nutraceuticals and other source of natural products
• Develop standardized and validated herbal medicine and other source of natural
  products for Clinical Trials
• Conduct pharmacovigilance study of the herbal medicine, nutraceuticals and other
  source of natural products
• Conduct Ant-microbial and drug resistance studies
• Liaises with the statutory bodies for the regulation and control of Traditional Medicine products and practices and to provide support in the performance of their
  functions.