Dominican Medicinal Plants: A Guide for Health Care Providers

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Many people have contributed their time, support and expertise to the compilation and
preparation of this reference manual. First we would like to express our profound gratitude to the
Dominican community in New York City, particularly to those individuals who have shared with us their
knowledge of herbal medicine and healing traditions from the Dominican Republic. Although they will
remain anonymous for purposes of confidentiality, this publication would not have been possible without
their collaboration.
We extend our deep appreciation to the Jacob and Valeria Langeloth Foundation for generously
supporting not only the preparation and publication of this manual, but also for the integration of this
guidebook into cultural competency training programs for health care providers in New York City. In
addition, we gratefully acknowledge The United Hospital Fund and The New York Community Trust for
their most generous support of the compilation of the first edition of this manual and the pilot-testing of a
preliminary version of this publication.
Researching, preparing and editing this volume has been a collaborative endeavor from the
beginning, involving partnerships with the following organizations and institutions: The New York
Botanical Garden, Institute of Economic Botany; Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Yeshiva
University, Family Medicine and Hispanic Center of Excellence; Alianza Dominicana; Columbia
University, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Associates in Internal Medicine Clinic and Mailman
School of Public Health, Center for Population and Family Health; Columbia University Medical Center,
Community Pediatrics; New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Charles B. Rangel Community Health Center
and Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital; New York University School of Medicine, Emergency
Medicine; and the New York Poison Control Center.
We extend our sincere appreciation to the many wonderful research assistants, interns and
volunteers whose efforts have contributed to the making of this book: Yadira Arias, Levenia Durán,
Jessica Fried, Saralinda Lugo Hart, Athalia Caro Keffield, Saneddy Quezada and Sam Stein. In particular,
we wish to thank Frans Beltran, Dr. Algernon Churchill, Jillian De Gezelle and Rachel Corey-Pacheco
who helped considerably with data analysis and MEDLINE literature research. The following design
professionals contributed their talent, creativity and skills to the graphics and layout of this publication:
Marilan Lund, Ben Munson and Doris Straus.
Several clinicians and other medical experts have pilot-tested or reviewed portions of the contents
of this manuscript and offered helpful feedback and suggestions. We wish to recognize and thank them
for their insightful contributions: Matthew Anderson, MD; Mark Blumenthal; Hetty Cunningham, MD;
Norm Farnsworth, PhD; Deborah Finkelstein, MD; Robin Flam, MD; Anna Flattau, MD; Johanny Garcia,
MD; Melanie Gissen, MD; Sezelle Haddon, MD; Emily Jackson, MD; Pablo Joo, MD; Elaine Fleck, MD;
Edward Kennelly, PhD; Nicole Kirchen, MD; Ben Kligler, MD; Kathleen Klink, MD; Fredi Kronenberg,
PhD; Rafael Lantigua, MD; Roberta Lee, MD; Mary McCord, MD; Gretchen Mockler, MD; Melanie
Rausche, MD; Pran Saha, MD; Lionel Robineau, MD; Vincent Silenzio, MD; Ellen Tattelman, MD; and
Robert Wolkow, MD.
Numerous individuals have granted us permission to use their photographs, illustrations or
digitized images of plants for this publication, and we appreciate their willingness to share their artistic
work so that this volume could be fully illustrated: Irina Adam, Francesca Anderson, Michael J. Balick,
PhD, Bruce Hoffman, PhD, Edward Kennelly, PhD, Andreana Ososki, PhD, Ina Vandebroek, PhD, Keith
Weller and Jolene Yukes. For more information on photographers and their photographs, please see:
“Appendix C: Photo Credits.”
The ethnobotanical information in this book is the culmination of more than ten years of
ethnomedical research in the New York City area. As such, we wish to acknowledge the efforts of
collaborators and co-investigators from the Urban Ethnobotany Project, a previous ethnomedical research
initiative which paved the way for the present endeavor: Fredi Kronenberg, Marian Reiff, Andreana
Ososki, Kimberly Johnson, Patricia Lohr, Maria Roble, Bonnie O’Connor, Adriane Fugh-Berman and
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