Asst Prof Brandon Morinaka Selected for EMBO Global Investigator Network
January 10, 2022
Asst Prof Brandon MORINAKA was one of eight scientists in Asia selected as new members of the EMBO Global Investigator Network from January 2022.
Asst Prof Morinaka’s research team studies uncharacterised natural product pathways as an untapped source for new drugs and the enzymes necessary to make them.
Natural products or secondary metabolites derived from plants, animals and microorganisms continue to play a key role in drug discovery and development. Many small-molecule drugs used in medicine are either the natural products themselves or their derivatives. These molecules can be repurposed as pharmaceuticals to treat infectious diseases and cancer.
His research team characterises and utilises post-translational modifying enzymes encoded in bacterial natural product pathways to produce peptide-based therapeutics. His long-term goal is to identify drug leads for infectious diseases such as viruses and microbial pathogens.
“I would like to thank my group for their foundational work and the EMBO for this opportunity. We look forward to fruitful scientific exchanges locally and abroad!”
The EMBO Global Investigator Network supports life scientists with an excellent scientific track record who carry out research in an EMBC Associate Member State (currently India and Singapore), or in countries with a cooperation agreement with EMBC (currently Chile and Taiwan).
Congratulations, Asst Prof Morinaka!
