Research Facilities & Activities
Research Facilities
The Department is well equipped with modern research instrumentation and equipment. Chemicals are purchased as per current research project. Funding of research projects are sponsored by KSA Counsel of Scientific Research, King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, or any foreigner agent. The facilities are allocated in different laboratories to suit the safety and type of activities involved.
Instrumental laboratories involve, HPLC-DAD-RI (Agilent) analytical and preparatives systems; Rotary evaporators (Buchi), ChromatotronÒ, MPLC: Sepcore (Buchi); vacuum oven, freez drier (Christ); UV-VIS spectrophotometer ; Refrigerator (-80o); plant mill; in addition to other facilities in the central laboratory.
Graduate students are provided with ready access to these facilities throughout their scientific studies in the research program.
The Research Activities
The research activities of the academic staff members of the Department of Natural Products and Alternative Medicine are principally geared towards:
- The isolation of bioactive plant constituents through bio-guided fractionation using different chromatographic techniques and elucidation of their structures using different chemical and spectral means (MS, 1D and 2D-NMR).
·
- Study of Saudi medicinal plants for their antiprotozoal, antitumour, anti-HIV, antidiabetic, hepatoprotective, antioxidant and cardioprotective activities.
- Quality control of herbal products.
- Discovery of new drugs/drug leads from Red Sea marine organisms
- Marine biotechnology and plant tissue culture.
- Marine toxins
- Semisynthesis of marine-derived natural products
- Marine ecology & chemical defense in marine invertebrates
- Microbial biotransformation
- Symbiosis in marine invertebrates
- Marine fungi and actinomycetes as a source of novel pharmaceuticals
Current running research projects:
- Targeting Vascular Endothelial Dysfunction in Diabetes by Active Constituents from Saudi Plants, 2013, funded by KACST.
- Anti-Alzheimer activity of some Saudi Plants, 2014, funded by DSR, King Abdulaziz University.
- Studies on the anticancer and antimicrobial activity of locally isolated Streptomyces from West Area of Saudi Arabia., 2012, funded by KACST.
- Biotechnological approaches for drug discovery and development from red sea marine organism (11-BIO1556-03).