CHEMISTRY INSTRUCTOR Christian Malapit is helping find a cheaper cure to malaria, one of the leading causes of deaths in the world.
In a study that won an Outstanding Thesis and Dissertation Award in the Philippine Council for Advanced Science and Technology Research and Development (PCASTRD), Malapit discusses how he wanted to produce a polymer that will make the extraction of artemisinin, an antimalaria compound, easier.
“There are actually millions of people suffering from malaria around the world, and most of them come from third world countries,” said Malapit. “Artemisinin is a very expensive drug… we wanted to isolate the extract in an easier fashion [to] make the price of artemisinin cheaper for everyone.”
PCASTRD is a sector of the Department of Science and Technology that handles the advanced science and technology research system in the country. It gives awards for outstanding theses and dissertations every two years.
Together with Malapit, Mathematics Instructor Enrico Paolo Bugarin also won the same award for his work on the color symmetries of quasicrystals, discovered on 1984.
Malapit and Bugarin’s work were awarded in the Chemistry and Mathematics categories of the PCASTRD on November 2008.
Innovations
Malapit said that artemisinin comes from Artemisia annua, a plant that grows only in China. The polymer he wants to produce will extract artemisinin selectively, and easily, from the plant.
Using this method, Malapit hopes to make the antimalaria drug cheaper, and its production easier. Artemisinin is the most potent cure against malaria.
Malapit said winning the award encouraged him to research more. “In terms of teaching in the Ateneo, we are actually forced to do research,” he said. “With this award, I feel more confident in doing more research.”
Former student Maria Dolorosa Mendoza (II BS HSc), said she considers Malapit as “one of the smartest and most approachable professors” she had.I’m sure that whatever acknowledgement or recognition he gets, he’d be more than deserving for it,” she said.
The PCASTRD award was Malapit’s first recognition. He is also a PCASTRD graduate scholar.
Discoveries
Bugarin’s thesis, meanwhile, extends the concept of color symmetry from crystals to quasi-crystals, or “not so crystals,” as he calls them.
“It is interesting because it is new and no one has done it before,” said Bugarin.
Quasi-crystals differ from crystals (like those found in salt or sugar) because they lack symmetry. Bugarin studied the mathematics behind the color symmetries of these crystals.
While working on the thesis, Bugarin faced the challenge of being the first to make a paper about quasicrystals and their color symmetries.
“Whenever you do a research, you should be swift…kasi malas ka kapag naunahan ka ng iba (you’re unlucky if someone beats you to it),” said Bugarin.
Bugarin was writing his thesis while teaching full-time in the Ateneo. Practical reasons inspired him to finish his thesis. “I just wanted to finish [my Masters degree] on time, and I wanted to get a nice sleep,” he said.
Bugarin’s thesis work was recognized as well during the 2008 School of Science and Engineering Awards. It won first prize in the graduate research category.
“With the genius mind that he has, the achievements and recognitions he gained through the years are not surprising,” said Bugarin’s former student Ana Tericia Diaz (II AB PoS).
Even though Bugarin was inspired by practical reasons at first while doing his thesis, he said the award inspired him to study more, and better motivated him to teach.
