IBSAR Researchers Awarded Arab Science and Technology Foundation Grant

Second from left, Professor Darwiche during the award ceremony

The Arab Science and Technology Foundation (ASTF), based in Sharjah, UAE, announced the winning research proposals for the second funding cycle of 2008 to include the IBSAR project entitled “Photoprotective and Chemopreventive Properties in the Skin of Extracts from Indigenous Lebanese Plants.”

The research involves collaborative work among IBSAR researchers including Nadine Darwiche, principal investigator from the Biology Department and  two co-investigators, Hala Mohtaseb from the Biology Department and Najat Saliba from the Chemistry Department. This project aims to identify the anti-skin cancer properties of extracts from two indigenous Lebanese plants, Centaurea ainetensis and Achillea falcata, against ultraviolet radiation. This research could lead to their potential development into safe, effective, and inexpensive sunscreens that are affordable by the poor. The knowledge generated from this work has immediate health and social applications and will lead to the development of plant-related economic opportunities.

200 grants were submitted in total to the ASTF Funding Agency and eight received awards.

The Award Ceremony was held in Cairo, Egypt on May 13.