With the emerging bacterial resistance to antimicrobials in skin infections and reported skin cancer cases, especially in neglected minority groups like albinos, there is need for cheap, readily available, and effective therapeutic agents that can combat resistant skin bacterial strains and prevent skin conditions that develop due to the Ultraviolet (UV) exposure. This project has advanced knowledge by revealing bioactive compounds from plants that can be used as chemical markers in herbal skin care formulations and led to the discovery of drugs that can be used in the treatment of skin infections. 

Grantee Description

Dr. Jane Namukobe is a lecturer and researcher at the Department of Chemistry, Makerere University, Uganda. She obtained her Bachelor of Science, Master of Science, and a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Makerere University. Dr. Namukobe has over 10 years of experience in teaching and research and her vision is to nurture the next generation of African scientists to grow and advance in their academic and research careers.

Driven by her enthusiasm for research in natural products chemistry, Dr. Namukobe has received multiple awards to work on research focused on drug formulation and drug discovery from medicinal plants. She has published journal papers in peer-reviewed journals. Her current research focuses on screening plants for their antibacterial, antioxidation, and sunscreen potentials as well as isolating and identifying their bioactive compounds.

Project: Bioactivity and chemical investigation of natural products composition from selected plants used in skin infections and protection

Skin diseases are very common in many developing countries and have a serious impact on people’s quality of life, causing lost productivity at work and school, and discrimination which may lead to psycho-social problems, especially in the neglected minority groups like the albinos. Many people develop skin conditions due to UV exposure (skin cancer), and bacterial infections.

With the emerging bacterial resistance to antimicrobials in skin infections, there is need to search for novel chemotherapeutic agents to combat the resistant bacterial strains. Besides, artificial sunscreens are expensive, purported to cause cancer, and sometimes break down and become less effective. In Uganda, many plants used to treat skin diseases have been documented but their efficacy, toxicity, and chemical constituent are not known, and this hinders their formulation and development into drugs. This project aims to identify and chemically characterize bioactive metabolites from plants with antibacterial, antioxidant, and sun protection potentials.

This project anticipates advancing knowledge by discovering bioactive compounds that can be used as chemical markers and act as leads for the discovery of drugs for skin infection and protection from UV radiation.