Shimadzu partners with Northern Michigan University to support medicinal plant chemistry program

Shimadzu Scientific Instruments (SSI) and Northern Michigan University (NMU) have partnered to establish the Shimadzu Analytical Core Laboratory for Medicinal Plant Sciences. Through this collaboration, SSI has donated instrumentation for the laboratory to support NMU’s first-in-the-nation medicinal plant chemistry program. This rigorous chemistry program gives students and faculty access to cutting-edge equipment and technology to conduct medicinal plant research.

As part of the Shimadzu Partnership for Academics, Research and Quality of Life (SPARQ) program, SSI provided an in-kind donation of instrumentation for the laboratory valued at nearly $851,000, along with a framework for research collaborations and internships. The Shimadzu instruments include multiple mass spectrometers: gas and liquid chromatography (GC-MS and LC-MS/MS), and inductively coupled plasma (ICP-MS), all of which serve a vital role in ensuring product quality and safety.

Shimadzu's cannabis and hemp testing solutions cover a broad range of applications, from accurate potency testing and terpene profiling to contaminate testing for pesticides, residual solvents, heavy metals and mycotoxins/aflatoxins.

“The serious education and research on medicinal plants undertaken in this unique undergraduate program will help to overturn the misinformation and stigma associated with hemp and cannabis as it applies to human and environmental health,” said Scott Kuzdzal, vice president of marketing for Shimadzu Scientific Instruments. “NMU students in the medicinal plant chemistry program now have access to the same level and quality of analytical instrumentation that they will encounter after graduation in commercial, academic and medical research labs.”

NMU President Fritz Erickson added, “Having access to the same top-caliber equipment they will work on in the industry gives our students a real advantage heading into their careers. We thank Shimadzu for recognizing Northern's innovative culture, our boldness in launching the medicinal plant chemistry program and the high quality of our faculty and students.”

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