By Chandler Brindley
A University of Wisconsin Oshkosh assistant chemistry professor, in collaboration with one of his students is working on a project trying to develop a medication to fight against parasitic flatworms and is one of three recipients of the 2022 Regent Scholar Award.
The Regent Scholar Award program started in 2014 providing awards up to $ $50,000 each and is designed to promote collective research between professors and students according to the regent scholar website.
The program is grant-based and gives money for research to programs at UW System schools according to John Chan, an assistant professor of chemistry.
Although the award is rare with only 17 people ever winning it, UW Oshkosh has had Yijun Tang and now John Chan both in the chemistry department win the award.
Tang won the award in 2018 for a diabetes test according to Chan.
Chan’s awarded project called “A Novel Chemotherapy to Treat Parasitic Flatworms Causing Human and Animal Disease,” had the help of UW Milwaukee Organic Chemistry Professor, James Cook and UW Oshkosh graduate student Isaac Kamara.
Chan’s project revolves around the search for another type of medication that will help with combatting parasitic flatworms.
There is only one drug that is currently on the market for treating flatworms, he said.
“It’s called praziquantel,” Chan said. “It is more than likely in the chicken-flavored syringe paste that you would give to your dog to deworm them,” he said.
No new drugs have been developed since the 1970s and reliance on one drug presents a serious threat of emerging drug resistance according to UW Oshkosh today.
Chan said that this is a huge problem in underdeveloped countries.
Kamara, originally from Liberia has been working with Chan for close to a year on the project doing mostly lab procedures.
With Kamara coming from Liberia to the U.S., the background of this project hit home for him.
“This is something that I see people suffer with at home every day,” he said. “When I was a kid, I had seen so many people suffer from a parasitic worm. That is what makes winning the award and working on this project so special to me.”
When applying for the award, Chan said he had to lean on Tang for guidance throughout the application process.
“It is always easier to write these things if someone already did well in it,” Chan said. “It takes a lot of the guess work out of the writing process.”
Chan stated that the process for applying for the award is rigorous and time-consuming, but the equipment that is needed in these programs is expensive and this award will help pay for it.
“A huge part of it is writing for it,” Chan said. “A ton of people might put in 10 applications a year, or maybe even more,” he said. “All of what we do takes money.”
The rivalrous nature of applying for the award makes it somewhat of an honor if you are selected.
“It is one of the more competitive ones,” Chan said. “They only hand out a few a year. Everybody from all the campuses can apply. Yeah, it is an honor, but I try not to think of it that way,” he said.
With Kamara working on the project with Chan, he said that it would mean a lot to him if the project broke through with him and Chan producing a new drug.
“It would mean so much to me,” he said. Sub Saharan Africa has a nine out of 10 death rate caused by this worm. Most people do not have access to a medical facility and only have a local pharmacy that does not have all the drugs.”
Kamara is appreciative to be attending UW Oshkosh and working on the award-winning project with Chan.
“I am grateful to be doing this work and to be working with professor Chan,” he said. “I have no regrets and feel blessed that I am doing this.”
