Published on July 25, 2005

A Thai scientist has won a US$350,000 (Bt14.4 million) scholarship from one of the world’s largest philanthropic organisations to support her research into anti-malarial drugs.

Sumalee Kamchonwong-paisan, a biochemist at the National Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology is one of 42 outstanding scientists from 20 countries selected by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) to receive grants this year.

The institute is a non-profit medical-research organisation with laboratories across the United States and grants programmes throughout the world.

Nearly 500 scientists from 62 countries applied for the institute’s biomedical-research grants this year. This year, the institute’s grants focus on finding global solutions to infectious and parasitic diseases.

Other successful researchers came from Hungary, Australia, Denmark and France as well as developing countries like India, South Africa, Uruguay, and Mali.

Under her proposal for the grant, Sumalee will investigate how artemisinin, an effective antimalarial drug extracted from a Chinese herb, clears parasites from infected red blood cells.

A precise understanding of the mechanics of how artemisinin works could lead to the development of better drugs for treating malaria.

Sumalee is the first Thai scientist named as a scholar by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. The grant, covering five years of research, will be transferred to her by the National Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology at $70,000 (Bt2.9 million) per year for five years.

She is required to conduct her research in Thailand with the full support of the National Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology.

“Although the institute doesn’t expect me to succeed in developing a new and better drug, I have to try my best to complete my research and come up with new findings about the mechanisms of artemisinin,” she said.

Sumalee, who says she is over 40, has devoted the past 10 years to researching anti-malarial drugs, with the hope of developing a better treatment for the deadly tropical disease.

Her interest was focused on artemisinin because it was the most important anti-malarial drug at present and scientists did not yet understand the mechanics of how it operates.

About one million people die from malaria every year. The big challenges in treating and preventing the disease are the drug resistance of the malaria parasite and the cost of available drugs.

Pennapa Hongthong

The Nation

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