Daniel Moerman (July 21, 1941 – January 9, 2026) was Professor of Anthropology at the University of Michigan-Dearborn (USA) Editor-in-Chief of Economic Botany from 2004 to 2008 and President of the International Society for Ethnopharmacology (ISE) from 2006 to 2008.
His strong interest in medical anthropology and medicinal plants prompted Dan to construct the Native American Ethnobotany database (http://naeb.brit.org/). Dan advanced and vitalized medical anthropology in two ways with questions about how to approach efficacious medicine: A sociocultural and taxonomical.
His intuition and curiosity made him compare the total flora of North America with that of the medicinal flora used by native Americans revealing taxonomic patterns. This conceptual idea inspired ethnopharmacologists and ethnobotanists alike triggering a series of subsequent research dedicated to factors influencing medicinal plant selection and for pinpointing taxonomic and phylogenetic patterns.
On the other hand, Dan transcended the placebo effect explaining that since a placebo is inert and thus without any pharmacodynamic effect the dynamisms are given by the sociocultural contexts of healing. Consequently, Dan coined the “meaning response” as a more appropriate term to refer to the “placebo effect”.
Whilst his academic interests spanned a broad spectrum, ranging from cultural significance to taxonomy, his works were by no means trivial.
In the second issue of the first volume of the Journal of Ethnopharmacology Daniel Moerman published “Symbols and selectivity: A statistical analysis of native American medicinal ethnobotany“. Dan Moerman explains that “Native Americans use a wide range of plants medicinally. Many of these plants have profound meaning to their users. Does this mean, as some assert, that tribal medicine is all placebo? Since the essential character of meaning is the arbitrariness of the sign, then insofar as this medicine is symbolic, the plants used medicinally will be a random representation of plants available in nature. Regression analyses of plants used by native Americans on plants available to them indicate substantial selectivity in plant use. It is clear that much of medicine (ethno- or otherwise) is symbolic, based on meaning and placebo. But these data indicate substantial selectivity in the medical use of natural species by native American peoples. Evidently, native American medical ethnobotany was not only placebo medicine” (Moerman, 1979).
We also remember him as an engaged and caring personality as well as a curious mind. He was always great in asking sharp and engaging questions. Not widely known is that quite often in his papers he added a little or larger image of geranium, often the unusual fruits. It was one of his favourite plants going back to his early work (1982) “Geraniums for the Iroquois: a field guide to American Indian medicinal plants”.
He loved looking at garden plants especially edible ones and together with his wife Claudine he explored the culinary diversity of plants and other foods, especially French culinary delights. When he visited us (MH) in London in 2016, our pretty old bottle of whisky somehow evaporated, which made my younger daughter chuckle. His love for people and plants will live on in our recollections.
His approach to research showcases how building a solid basis and pursuing research questions with continuously refining focus can reshape entire fields. Dan was bold, funny, witty and supporting. We are thankful for his legacy, collaboration and friendship.
References
Moerman, D.E., (1979). Symbols and selectivity: a statistical analysis of native American medical ethnobotany. J Ethnopharmacol. 1(2):111–119. doi: 10.1016/0378-8741(79)90002-3.
Moerman, D.E., (1982). Geraniums for the Iroquois – a field guide to American Indian medicinal plants. Reference Publications: Algonac, MI, USA.