Research Platforms' Performance Reports TMB 2015-2017 | Page 5

overseas groups. This work package is mainly focussed
on tropical viral (chikungunya, dengue and influenza)
and parasitic (intestinal nematodes) diseases and has a
component dealing with antimicrobial resistance in the
community and hospitals. The dengue group is analysing
the spread of dengue across urban and rural areas in
collaboration with the Malaysian Ministry of Health. In
addition, a virus typing laboratory is also envisaged.
Biomarkers that may allow the discrimination of those
most susceptible to dengue are being developed The
influenza group is studying in depth the effect of influenza
on cell metabolism and devising novel systems biology
approaches to new drugs and detection of influenza. in the campus and Malaysia, particularly for multiple
drug resistance or treatment of malignancy or infectious
diseases, underpinning the development of new drugs in
Malaysia.
The work package also seeks to build on its deep knowledge
of the population genomics of various indigenous Orang
Asli groups in Malaysia to compare the genetics of their
resistance or susceptibility to various infectious agents
(parasitic, bacterial or viral) with those of other ethnic
groups by the development and use of induced pluripotent
stem cell model systems. Development of these valuable
biological resources and datasets will translate into a better
fundamental understanding of the biological mechanisms
associated with disease outbreaks, guide diagnostics and
therapeutics and attract collaborative funding from local
and international resources. Work Package 5: Biodiversity and its Implications: This
work package investigates biodiversity across different
environments, both pristine and the urban. This will
examine diversity at the genomic and morphological
levels in humans, plants, animals, soil or water samples
throughout Malaysia.
Work Package 2. Clinical Research: Ageing brings about
the onset of diseases such as high blood pressure, type
2 diabetes, dementia and auto-immunity. This work
package addresses strategies to identify those at high
risk of developing these illnesses and their treatment, and
involves an integration of the patients’ electronic medical
health records with metabolic and genetic markers for
early detection of individuals at high risk of developing
such diseases. Tailoring therapeutic interventions
towards patients who respond best based upon their
pharmacogenomic profile will help reduce adverse drug
reactions and develop personalised medicine.
Work Package 3: The Human Microbiome: Research
in this work package is concerned with the microbes in
the community, in healthy and diseased individuals and
in examining antibiotic resistance in the community in
Malaysia. A particular focus would be the study of how
the microbial composition changes with age and the
environment, particularly with diet.
Work Package 4: New medicines for Malaysia: This will
relate to the in-vitro or in-vivo testing of novel therapeutic
agents being developed by the various research groups
Focus 2. Healthy Environment: Humans are part of a
much broader ecosystem on which we are dependent for
our sustenance. The links between the various components
of an ecosystem are not always obvious, but they are
critical and in line with the National Policy on Biological
Diversity 2016-2025.
The work packages here are:
Work Package 6: Sustainable Food Production for Health:
This work package is involved in helping the production of
healthy foods in Malaysia, from the farm to the palate. In
particular, the focus is on rice grain productivity and quality
Work Package 7: Sustainable Plantations and Urban
Environments: This group investigates the health and
sustainability of the environment and indicators of health of
urban and rural environments.
In 2017, the platform consisted of Genomics, Food Security
and Biodiversity, Infectious Diseases and Health, Human
Genetics, Systems Biology of Viruses and Clinical Research
clusters. The work undertaken in 2017 is described in the
report and further background information for the work in
2017 may be useful.
The clusters are informal groupings of research effort, led
by a cluster leader. The Genomics cluster in TMB is the
research arm of the Genomics technology platform and
as such plays a dual role in the campus. The Genomics
cluster underwent profound change early in 2017 with
the departure of the inaugural director and cluster leader
Professor Chris Austin, followed by Dr Gan Han Ming
and Tan Mun Hua. We are grateful to them for their drive
and energy in establishing the Genomics platform and in
making it flourish. In previous years that Genomics cluster
had notable success in aquatic genomics, being the first
in the world to decipher the genome of the Arowana and
making great progress in elucidating the phylogeny of
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