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Biography |
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Director of the African Centre for Gene Technologies (ACGT), an initiative of the CSIR, University of Pretoria and University of the Witwatersrand to establish a network of expertise in advanced bioscience. Morris obtained her Training in biochemistry in Scotland (BSc Hons St Andrews, PhD Aberdeen). She worked in the CSIR in South Africa, and in the University of British Columbia in Canada. She later joined AECI Ltd in South Africa, where she became manager of biotechnology R&D in an industrial environment. Rejoining the CSIR in 1999, she was responsible for the Strategic Technology Group in the division of Food, Biological and Chemical Technologies before taking on her current role. Morris is strongly associated with biotechnology and biosafety in Africa. She participated in various SA government delegations thus establishing biotechnology links with other countries. She also served as external evaluator of various international programs, as a member of the Program Advisory Committee for the SIDA Bio-EARN program, and as a member of an international team evaluating capacity building under the Cartagena Protocol. Morris chairs the steering committee of SAMI (South African Malaria Initiative). She was instrumental in the establishment of the SABINA program (Southern African Biochemistry and Informatics for Natural Products), a Carnegie Regional Initiative in Science and Education (RISE); and is responsible for a new project, ‘POL-SABINA’ funded through the EU Africa Caribbean and Pacific program (EU-ACP).
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Abstract |
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Establishing a Southern African Natural Products Partnership.
The SABINA network (Southern African Biochemistry and Informatics for Natural Products) was granted support in 2008 from the Carnegie Corporation as a Carnegie Regional Initiative in Science and Education (Carnegie-RISE). It includes institutions in South Africa (CSIR, University of Pretoria and University of the Witwatersrand), Namibia (University of Namibia), Malawi (University of Malawi and the Tea Research Foundation for Central Africa) and Tanzania (University of Dar es Salaam). SABINA exists to train both PhD and MSc level scientists through research in the biochemistry and chemistry of natural products, including bioinformatics as an essential tool for data management and structure-function elucidation. Already 12 students are being supported within the network.
Over a number of years there has been a considerable amount of research into natural products (primarily plants and fungi) that has been undertaken in Southern Africa. Emphasis has also been placed on the value of indigenous knowledge concerning the region’s biodiversity. Traditional healers are widely consulted and make extensive use of plant derived medicines. There is also considerable interest in indigenous fruit and vegetables that appear to have health promoting properties. Other plants have potential application in agriculture as insecticides etc. Non-indigenous crops, such as tea, that are commercially grown in the Southern African region are also being investigated to enhance their health promoting properties.
The SABINA programme focuses on the development of biological resources (primarily plants and fungi) with application in medicine, health promotion, and agriculture. Although the SABINA partnership is actively training scientists in the development of natural products, the capacity, knowledge management systems, supportive policies and understanding of the requirements of the full value chain are not fully in place (either institutionally, nationally or regionally) to support the desired outputs of excellent science and technology that can be translated into sustainable development and economic growth. With funding from the European Union Africa-Caribbean-Pacific programme, a complementary project (POL-SABINA) has now been launched to provide policy and support actions to SABINA.
The aim of POL-SABINA is to create an environment amongst the participating partners and in the participating countries that will permit researchers engaged in natural products research and capacity building to enhance their efficiency and effectiveness, and to ensure that an appropriate environment exists to facilitate the translation of their research outputs into actual products. This includes the development of an advanced web-based knowledge management system for sharing of natural products research information amongst the partners, provision of training in a variety of topics that will enhance research effectiveness and translation into meaningful outputs, and support for the development of necessary policies and legislation in the countries concerned as well as at the level of SADC (Southern African Development Community). The potential application of the research will be demonstrated to farmers and entrepreneurs, and all relevant players in the value chain will be engaged in the product development process.
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