Dr Ruben Cloete from the University of the Western Cape has been awarded a Fulbright Fellowship in the United States of America. TygerBurger’sBrenden Ruiterspoke to him:
What is your brief academic background?
I successfully completed a doctorate (PhD) in Bioinformatics at the South African National Bioinformatics Institute (Sanbi), University of the Western Cape (UWC) in 2013, under supervision of Professor Alan Christoffels.
My PhD focused on the identification of novel drug targets in the genome of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and the prediction of the three-dimensional structures for protein-drug targets. I also used molecular docking techniques to identify potential inhibitors to treat drug resistant forms of tuberculosis.
During my PhD studies I spent a month in the laboratory of Professor Marc A. Marti-Renom (Centro de Investigación Príncipe Felipe, Valencia, Spain) and received comprehensive training in comparative protein structure modelling and molecular docking. During my post-doctoral fellowship at Sanbi, UWC, I was introduced to, and started implementing methods of molecular dynamic simulation. I spent a further two months in the laboratory of Professor Chandra Verma, at the A-star Bioinformatics Institute, Biopolis, Singapore, and mastered methods in molecular modelling, simulation studies of protein-ligand and protein-protein complexes, as well as methods in drug discovery and design.
My research laboratory focuses on understanding drug resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis and human immune deficiency virus (HIV-1) integrase protein and the identification of causal variants in Parkinson’s disease development.
Tuberculosis and HIV-1 drug resistance is a huge problem in South Africa and calls for the identification of newer drugs to curb the spread of these diseases. Therefore, my group develops computational methods to understand drug resistance and to identify novel drugs to treat drug resistant forms of tuberculosis and also eradicate the newly emerging pathogen SARS-Coronavirus.
What is your field of specialisation?
Bioinformatics in the area of computational chemistry and drug design.
How do you feel about the award?
I am very excited and humbled about obtaining the Fulbright South African Research Scholar Programme as it allows me the opportunity to travel to world class laboratories to learn new techniques in molecular modelling and drug discovery and also establish new collaborations between UWC and universities in the United States.
As a young emerging researcher I am looking forward to further advance my research niche as an academic and return to share my knowledge with South African and African students within my research group. Being 1 of 10 South African researchers selected for this programme is an enormous achievement and one I am particularly proud of achieving.
What are you going to work on in the USA?
I will be working on the development of computational methods to identify novel drugs that can be used to treat Mycobacterium tuberculosis infections within South African patients that have active tuberculosis. Here I will learn to use computer algorithms and software tools to interrogate protein targets in the genome of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and identify the most promising drug molecules to take further in wet-lab testing.
What will be the outcomes of your research project and what will its contribution be to research at UWC and to South Africa?
As we know South Africa is home to the second most deadly human pathogen tuberculosis. Therefore identifying newer drugs that can shorten the treatment duration will be a major step forward. The proposed project also aligns well with the intended focus of the South African Medical Research Council in the eradication of tuberculosis and this work will really add value to this intended goal.
The end result of this research project will most definitely contribute to the outstanding publication record of the University and also the graduation of postgraduate students at the University of the Western Cape.
Another contribution to the University is the establishment of a new network of collaborations and hopefully exchange programmes to strengthen research projects and student development as well as obtaining grants that will sustain future research projects.
