Recent Research in Medicine, Pharmacy, Chemistry, and Biology of Indonesian Students in the United States Succeeded in Stealing the Attention at the Bianka Webinar
Three Indonesian students who are continuing their studies in the United States presented their latest ideas and innovations at the 33rd Series of Bianka Karya (Bianka) or ‘Creation Talks’ on Tuesday (05/10).
The event, which was initiated by the Educational and Cultural Attaché (Atdikbud) of the Republic of Indonesia in Washington, DC, was led by Soroy Lardo, Internist -Consultant for Tropical and Infectious Diseases, the Indonesian Army Central Hospital Gatot Subroto who is also the Director of the Health Research Institute, UPN Veteran Jakarta.
Attending the event, Dwi Larso, Director of Scholarships of the Indonesia Endowment Funds for Education (LPDP), Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Indonesia. Dwi said, “Health professionals are always at the front line and they have to look toward the future and how society prepares for the future pandemic, including pharmacists as well.”
However, Dwi said that Indonesia has a shortage of hospitals as well as health care professionals on average only 3.77 doctors per 10,000 people according to WHO and mostly experienced by those in rural areas.
It was also stated that providing access to comprehensive health care services is very essential to promoting and maintaining health care for all Indonesian people.
On a different occasion, the Indonesian Ambassador to the United States, Rosan P. Roeslani said, “Medical personnel is at the forefront in providing health services to the community, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic.”
Ambassador Rosan added that pharmacists also play a strategic role in distributing drugs, especially during a pandemic. “Biologists and chemists also actively contribute to the discovery and innovations of new drugs to support adequate health services for the community,” said Ambassador Rosan.
Fajar Setyo Wibowo, a doctoral candidate in Medicinal Chemistry, Auburn University said, “I am currently designing and developing a drug that targets Liver X Receptor (LXR) Beta selectively for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease (AD).” Fajar revealed that currently no drug has been approved by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.
Meanwhile, Claudia Antonika, a doctoral candidate in Microbiology/Virology at Indiana University Bloomington presented her research which aims at finding a mechanism for a virus to inhibit the host immune system. “By knowing the interaction of the host and the virus, possible therapeutic targets can be found to cure the viral disease.
On the other hand, research by Lovina Angelia Surjo Abdi, a doctoral candidate in Developmental and Reproductive Biology from the University of Hawaii Manoa, focuses on using heart stem cell models to study diabetes. It focuses more on epigenetics remodeling in diabetic cardiomyopathy.
Those three students were accompanied by representatives of the universities where they study including Forrest Smith, Director of Graduate Programs, Drug Discovery, and Development, Harrison School of Pharmacy, Auburn University, Scott Michaels, Chair of Biology Department, the College of Arts & Sciences, Indiana University Bloomington, and Rachel Boulay, Associate Director for Research, John A. Burns School of Medicine, the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
They discussed various research fields in their respective institutions and the possibility of research collaborations between their faculty members and researchers and students in Indonesia.
Popy Rufaidah, the Educational and Cultural Attaché at the Indonesian Embassy in Washington, D.C. stated that the main objective of this webinar was to increase the number of Indonesian students and young professionals to continue their studies in the United States through government scholarships.
“We also hope that after the webinar, collaborations can be established with Auburn University, Indiana University Bloomington, and the University of Hawaii at Manoa,” said Atdikbud Popy.
For information, the recording of the live broadcast of the 33rd episode of this webinar in the fields of Medical, Pharmacy, Chemistry, and Biology can be accessed on the official Facebook page of Atdikbud USA with the link https://bit.ly/fb-watch-bianka33