Translational Science — Precision Medicine, Drug discovery and Clinical Research
Translating basic science research into communal health.
Conservation and environmental science
Databases exist in several countries throughout the globe, including Japan, Canada and the USA as an invaluable repository to support and enhance research into biomedical research, food sources, conservation and new therapeutic compounds. SIT began its research efforts by documenting biodiversity across Ghana and to develop a robust model system for genetics research. Currently, we have documented over 600 plants, DNA barcoded 200 marine organisms and 20 insects.
Food security and sustainable agriculture
In this global era, it is disheartening and troubling to see farmers substitute local tropical crops with well characterized template crops. The SIT digital herbarium is database of local crops and our first effort towards their characterization for food security. We work with farmers through workshops and focus group discussions on sustainable farming practices and the value of local crops and plants.
- Train new farmers in the region on sustainable food production.
- Encourage new farming techniques.
- Introduce new tropical crops into the region to supplement existing ones.
- Introduce and develop climate adaptable crops to withstand drought.
Develop agricultural technologies
- Improved irrigation methods.
- Application of biochar to farming techniques.
- Sustainable marketing of farming produce.
- Process agricultural produce to reduce waste and increase their shelf-life.
- Re-purpose agricultural wastes for local use such as biogas, manuring and manufacturing.
Drug discovery using natural plant products
SIT mission is to support and empower local herbal medical practitioners (alternate medicine) to deliver efficient treatments to patients. About 65% of Ghanaians use herbal medicine. We will follow patient treatment options and recovery. Also, we will extract the active ingredients in herbal formulations for treating emerging tropical diseases. With this approach we can track the next global epidemic such as Ebola and Zika and curtail global disease outbreaks and provide disease surveillance.
Ethnobotanical applications of plants in Ghana are understudied. However, Ghanaians rely on herbal medicine and supplements to augment western medicine. About 95% of current therapeutics and their analogs are derived from plants. At Sena Institute of Technology, we have documented ethnobotanical uses of plants in our electronic herbarium and developed an antimicrobial screening assay to validate them. Two of such plants have already shown immense inhibitory activity.
Metagenomics for tracking emergent pathogenesis
Metagenomics allows scientists to study the various microbes present in nature. It allows us to evaluate organisms in soil and soil, and also on specific environments such as skin, gut, fur, etc. This year, we will use environmental DNA and metagenomics to assess microbial species in Ghana’s freshwater sources. The result will be incorporated in SIT SSAGR repository. By the end of 2025, the several repositories will be integrated into a platform for an early warning system for diseases and conservation monitoring.
Genetic and enviromental causes of uterine fibroid
In the healthcare space, SIT’s objective is to assess health needs in Ghana over decades to determine appropriate technologies to support both the physical and mental wellbeing of Ghanaians. By working with local clinics and hospitals, we will conduct longitudinal research on uterine fibroid which affect the reproductive health of women to establish medical trends. This information will serve as guidance for local and regional policymakers in evaluating health programs.
Uterine Fibroid is a benign tumor that disproportionately affect women of African descent that any other race. It is a debilitating disease which affects women reproductive health, causes undue pain and over burden the family mentally and financially. In other to improve women’s health and further understand the molecular mechanisms underlying the disease, SIT received ethical approval from the Ghana Health Services in 2021 to enable us document and biobank fibroid tissues. The institute has now biobank 10 tissues from women post-surgery. The goal is to test local therapeutic plants in a screening assay to identify natural products that limits fibroid progression. We will also establish a fibroid cell line in Ghana to enable us to study the disease at the molecular level.