Pharm-BioTechnology and Traditional Medicine Centre: An Eastern and Southern Africa Higher Education Centers of Excellence Project at Mbarara University of Science and Technology

A regional approach to higher education in Africa offers the best way to build and sustain excellence in higher education in African economies, and to develop the human resources required to address key development challenges facing Africa. One of the key development challenges facing Africa is a low life expectancy and productivity compared to in other continents, majorly due to a high burden of both communicable and non communicable diseases, a situation made worse by inadequate yet expensive good quality drugs not easily accessed by the population. Yet Africa has a rich biodiversity that forms the continent’s natural wealth on which its social, cultural and economic systems are based; and this is particularly true for eastern and southern African regions. Traditional Medicine (TM) and Traditional Medicine Knowledge (TMK) systems form part of this wealth, but has not been science driven to improve quality of life and productivity in the region. Apart from TM, African biodiversity has enormous potential to produce modern drugs such as high value biopharmaceuticals but it has not been scientifically explored and developed either. Biopharmaceuticals are therapeutics derived from biological or living organisms through application of pharm-biotechnology. While several other factors may be contributing to underexploitation of TM, TMK systems and low application of pharm-biotechnology to biodiversity in Africa, the key factor remains largely inadequate number of scientists specialized in TM and pharm-biotechnology. To respond to this gap, Mbarara University of Science and Technology (MUST) through the World Bank’s African Centres of Excellence (ACE) initiative is creating, in the region, a unique framework by establishing “Pharm-Biotechnology and Traditional Medicine Centre” (PHARMBIOTRAC) in order to build capacity in the region to train and raise a critical mass of specialized and skilled human capital that can use multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary approach to advance traditional medicine and pharm-biotechnology. The specialists to be produced at this centre will be experts in critical areas including; reverse metabolomics, genomics and proteomics (molecular characterization, structural elucidation and modification of drug molecules or drug receptors) with potential to spur drug discovery; and specialists in production and use of high value biopharmaceuticals and TM products for uptake by pharmaceutical and herbal medicines industries in the region and beyond. Through linking research and education to industry, the research outputs and the graduates of PHARMBIOTRAC will be absorbed by private sector industry to mass produce high value science driven TM products and biopharmaceuticals highly needed for disease control and prevention worldwide.