11 September 2017

Two scientists Dr Katy Soapi and Mr Klaus Feussner from the Institute of Applied Sciences (IAS) participated in a 1-week expedition to a remote region (Uepi Island/Marovo lagoon) of the Solomon Islands in early June 2017. Alongside collaborators and researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology, USA, the team’s goal was to discover marine organisms which could be explored as a potential source of beneficial drugs. The team collected seaweeds, sponges, soft corals and marine microbes whose chemical extracts and chemical constituents are now being screened at the Pacific Natural Products Research Centre (PNPRC) Laboratory.

Drug discovery efforts focus on four major disease areas of importance to the United States and developing nations: infectious diseases including tuberculosis and drug-resistant pathogens; neglected tropical diseases including hookworms, roundworms, malaria; cancer; and neurodegenerative and central nervous system disorders. 

Mr Feussner while acknowledging the role of IAS’s long-term collaborators stated that IAS will increase its efforts in the study of plants, marine organisms and bacteria to discover new drugs.  Aside from drug discovery efforts, results of the research and ecological surveys will contribute to developing innovative conservation and management options that will help preserve biodiversity and health of coral reefs in the South Pacific.