Dr Phanankosi Moyo is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Biodiscovery Centre, University of Pretoria in South Africa. He is currently undertaking a fellowship at the IOI’s Chemistry lab as part of the AfOx Visiting Fellowship programme.
Phana is investigating natural products for drug discovery purposes, specifically to identify natural compounds that can reverse antibiotic resistance.
Plants have been integral in healthcare for centuries. Before the discovery of antibiotics, they were commonly used to fight infections. Natural products, including those derived from plants, have inspired around 50% of drugs that are clinically available, so it is vital to continue investigating these compounds.
As a biochemist, Phana works in the lab, screens plant extracts and compounds against different bacteria and isolates active compounds found in them with the aim of developing them into drugs. There is historical precedence for this. For example, quinine is a medication used to treat malaria, which originates from the bark of a Cinchona plant, a South American tree.
Inspired by the previous success of natural products drug discovery programs, Phana, working in the lab of Prof. V. Maharaj in Pretoria, collaborates with colleagues across Africa, including Prof. L. McGaw, University of Pretoria, and Prof. C. A. Danquah, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Ghana to find plant-derived inhibitors of the quorum-sense process and efflux pumps.
At the IOI Chemistry lab, Phana will specifically seek to find natural inhibitors that prevent bacterial enzymes such as β-lactamases from breaking down an antibiotic before it has exerted its desired effect to treat an infection.
I am delighted to have this opportunity to collaborate with the Ineos Oxford Institute for antimicrobial research. This collaboration will allow us to screen natural products against β-lactamases. We will be screening crude plant extracts and their fractions from a repository at the Biodiscovery Center at the University of Pretoria. This repository currently holds more than 11,000 ground plant samples collected from various parts of South Africa and approximately 5,000 extracts and their semi-purified fractions. The infrastructure and resources, as well as a wealth of experience in the Chemistry team at the IOI, will be of great value in helping to evaluate samples from the repository.
Due to his expertise and passion for natural products, it is absolutely brilliant to have Phana at the IOI. His experience in screening plant extracts and compounds compliments our screening work for new antibiotics at the IOI. Phana's work with colleagues across Africa investigating plant-derived inhibitors has already led to a new line of investigation for the IOI that highlights the value of international cooperation. We hope will start a long-term capacity-building collaboration between the IOI and the University of Pretoria.
Throughout his academic career, Phana’s main drive has been the opportunity to make a meaningful impact on humanity. After his undergraduate degree in Applied Biology and Biochemistry at the National University of Science and Technology, in Bulawayo, Zimbabawe, Phana had the opportunity to explore drug discovery.
This research is not without challenges. Screening plant samples particularly requires optimal experimental conditions and set up in order to ensure that outcomes are reliable and do not show false positives and negatives – this means that test results do not wrongly record whether a certain attribute is present or not. This attention to detail makes Phana’s work rewarding: the best part of his work is getting positive, active results he can consolidate and share. During his two months at the IOI, Phana is hoping to find “hit” compounds that can be advanced into late stages of drug discovery and development.
Longer term, I would love to build capacity and a collaboration between the University of Pretoria and the University of Oxford and Ineos Oxford Institute, having started work here through the Visiting Fellowship Program with the Africa Oxford Initiative (AfOx).
