Dr. Jeremiah Waweru Gathirwa
| Category of Fellowship |
| Postdoctoral Research Fellow |
| Institution Hosting the Fellowship |
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| Academic Background |
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| Professional Experience |
| Dr. Jeremiah Waweru Gathirwa holds a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Science from Nagasaki University, Japan. He has been a Research Scientist at KEMRI from March 2001 working on drug development research particularly for antimalarials. Over time, he has established safety and efficacy profiles of several herbal extracts, as well as compounds and documented indigenous knowledge and information on useful plants of Tropical Africa. Dr. Gathirwa has also investigated and devised benzylation strategies of hydroxyl groups under weak bases. He has synthesized a photocleavable molecular tag for laser desorption ionization mass spectrometry via Fries reaction. |
| Research Exposure |
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| Focus of the Research Fellowship |
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Nanomedicine (the biomedical application of nanotechnology in medicine) is a rapidly advancing field of biomedical science, which has revolutionised chemotherapy for diseases like cancer, and shows great potential for therapies used against infectious diseases like TB and malaria that disproportionately affect Africa. This study seeks to evaluate the performance of nano-formulated antimalarials. Three antimalarial drugs will be formulated in nanocarriers after which in vitro sensitivity screening using the sybr green-1 and [G-3H] Hypoxanthine methods will be done. The active drug formulations will be screened further, using animal studies to evaluate safety and efficacy of the nano-formulated antimalarials. Drugs formulations with the most improved pharmacokinetic profile will be further optimized.
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| Expected impact of the research findings |
| Three antimalarial drugs (primaquine, tafenoquine and artemisinin) will be nano-formulated at CSIR. It is envisaged that through nano-formulation technology, limiting factors of these drugs such as short half-life, poor solubility, bioavailability and side effects will be addressed. The drug formulations with the most improved ADMET (absorbance, distribution, metabolism, elimination and toxicity profiles) will be selected for further optimization through in vivo efficacy and pharmacokinetic testing in non-human primates in captive bred monkeys. Following the expected success, the nano-formulated drugs will be selected for evaluation in a clinical trial for possible adaptation in clinical use.
It is also expected that through technology transfer from the already technological advancement and infrastructure put in place at CSIR, at least two Kenyan scientists will be trained at CSIR thereby enabling domestication of the technology.
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| Anticipated Career development beyond the fellowship |
| After the training, I plan to continue working at the Kenya Medical Research Institute as a Researcher particularly in the area of malaria drug development. This training will have equipped me with the understanding of nanotechnology in drug development which I look forward into employing for drug development research on several drug candidates that we have identified over time. I also look forward to using the nanotechnology in drug development research of other poverty related diseases including schistosomiasis, African trypanosomiasis and leishmaniasis. The postdoctoral training will thus make me an accomplished Research Scientist with ability to undertake more challenging research mandates. |
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