A FACULTY member from the College of Science (Science) won the best poster presentation award in the 11th Annual Convention of the Natural Products Society of the Philippines (NPSP) last December 5 in Dumagete City.
Chemistry professor Alan Patrick Macabeo bested 12 other scientific poster presentations of other universities and colleges in the country and in Southeast Asia for his research work, “An antimycobacterial indole alkaloid from Voacanga globosa.”
This year’s theme, “Natural Product Chemicals in the 21st century: Innovations and Applications,” focused on the discovery and advancement of creating natural products from natural resources like plants and microorganisms.
In the research, which he collaborated with Science Assistant Dean Alicia Aguinaldo and Chemistry student Warren Vidar, he discovered that Voacanga globosa, an common Philippine Aposynaceae or herb that is commonly known in Quezon province as bayag-usa, has properties that can cure infections, such as tuberculosis and cancer related diseases.
Macabeo cited that it was the impact, relevance, and the quality of his research work that made his presentation winnable.
“Perhaps, another contributing factor why the poster presentation received the citation was its importance in the discovery of natural products that may serve as future antituberculosis drugs,” he said.
Macabeo added that this was the first time that the University received such citation from the NPSP.
“At first, I was not really sure whether I would win the award since the poster was made in a rush and the poster was meant only as a scientific presentation,” Macabeo said. L. J. D. Postrado
