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Em. Univ.-Prof. Dr. rer. nat. DDr. h.c. Rudolf Bauer

Professor emeritus
User Researchgate
UGraz

I consider the gut microbiota as a very important mediator for the activity of herbal medicinal products.

Professional background

Rudolf Bauer studied pharmacy and received his PhD at University of Munich, Germany; in 1993, he became Associate Professor at University of Düsseldorf, Germany; in 2002, he was appointed full professor of pharmacognosy at University of Graz, Austria. He acted as Head of the Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences from 2004–2020. Since, October 2024, he is Professor emeritus at University of Graz.

 

His research focused on phytochemical and pharmacological investigations of traditionally used medicinal herbs, quality control, identification of active constituents, plant metabolomics, and interactions with gut microbiota.

 

He acted as president of the Society for Medicinal Plant and Natural Product Research (GA) from 2002-2007, of the International Society of Ethnopharmacology from 2015-2017, and as founding president of The GP-TCM Research Association from 2012-2014.

 

He has published more than 420 research papers (h-index 83) and has edited several books. He is currently chairman of the expert group 13A of the European Pharmacopoeia Commission.

He received several awards, like the Egon-Stahl-Award of GA, the Outstanding International Scientist Award (Pranab Banerji Memorial Award) of the Society for Ethnopharmacology India (SFE), the Varro Tyler Prize of the American Society of Pharmacognosy, the Qihuang International Prize of China Association of Chinese Medicine, and the Government Friendship Award of the Peoples Republic of China. He received honorary doctorates of the universities of Helsinki/Finland and Szeged/Hungary.

Selected publications
  • Grafakou ME, Pferschy-Wenzig EM, Aziz-Kalbhenn H, Kelber O, Moissl-Eichinger C, Bauer R. Bidirectional interactions between St. John´s wort and gut microbiome: Potential implications on gut-brain-axis. Biomed Pharmacother. 187:118111 (2025) doi: 10.1016/j.biopha.2025.118111.
  • Thumann TA, Pferschy-Wenzig E, Kumpitsch C, Duller S, Högenauer C, Kump P, Aziz-Kalbhenn H, Ammar RM, Rabini S, Moissl-Eichinger C, Bauer R. Rapid biotransformation of STW 5 constituents by human gut microbiome from IBS- and non-IBS donors Microbiology Spectrum 12(6):e04031-23 (2024). doi.org/10.1128/spectrum.04031-23
  • Ammar RM, Pferschy-Wenzig EM, Van den Abbeele P, Verstrepen L, Ghyselinck J, Thumann T, Bauer R. Possible role of the gut microbiome in mediating the beneficial effects of the six-herbal formulation STW 5-II on digestive health. Phytomedicine 2023, 154996 (2023). Doi: 10.1016/j.phymed.2023.154996.
  • Pferschy-Wenzig EM, Pausan MR, Ardjomand-Woelkart K, Röck S, Ammar RM, Kelber O, Moissl-Eichinger C, Bauer R. Medicinal Plants and Their Impact on the Gut Microbiome in Mental Health: A Systematic Review. Nutrients 14(10): 2111 (2022) doi: 10.3390/nu14102111.
  • Thumann TA, Pferschy-Wenzig EM, Aziz-Kalbhenn H, Ammar RM, Rabini S, Moissl-Eichinger C, Bauer R, Application of an in vitro digestion model to study the metabolic profile changes of an herbal extract combination by UHPLC-HRMS. Phytomedicine 71: 153221 (2020) doi: 10.1016/j.phymed.2020.153221.
  • Pferschy-Wenzig, E.M., Koskinen K., Moissl-Eichinger, C., Bauer R. A combined LC-MS metabolomics- and 16S rRNA sequencing platform to assess interactions between herbal medicinal products and human gut bacteria in vitro: A pilot study on willow bark extract. Frontiers in Pharmacology 8: art. No. 893 (2017); DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2017.00893