Edwin Murungi
Country (Nationality)
Kenya
Grantee Title
Project: Targeting protein kinases for the development of novel drugs for trematode infections
Grantee Description
Edwin Murungi is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Medical Biochemistry, School of Health Sciences, Kisii University. Edwin obtained his PhD in Bioinformatics from the South African National Bioinformatics Institute (SANBI), University of the Western Cape in 2012 with Professor Alan Christoffels. Prior to that, he was awarded an MSc in Structural Biology from the University of Cape Town in 2007 and a Bachelor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Nairobi in 2003.
Edwin’s research interest is in the computational elucidation of putative drug targets for neglected tropical diseases. He is currently supervising four MSc students who are working on various aspects of target discovery. Edwin has presented his research findings at several conferences and workshops and is the author of 10 peer-reviewed articles in reputable scientific journals.
Project: Targeting protein kinases for the development of novel drugs for trematode infections
The project is aimed at the identification of conserved, trematode specific protein kinases that will subsequently be evaluated as putative targets for approved kinase inhibitors via a drug repurposing strategy. This approach has particular promise of fast-tracking compounds into clinical studies.