News

UNCG Professor Aiding Parasite Research

UNC Greensboro researcher Nicholas Oberlies and Mycosynthetix, a Hillsborough-based biotech company, will use a $100,000 grant from the N.C. Biotechnology Center to aid in the fight against parasites.

Their particular target are parasitic worms known as helminths, which live inside human or animal hosts and can disrupt nutrient absorption and cause disease. Intestinal helminths and particularly prevalent in developing countries and among school-age children.

The grant will fund Oberlies’ research into natural treatments for helminths. He will use Mycosythetix’ library of more than 55,000 fungi to search for compounds with agrochemical or pharmaceutical potential, according to an announcement of the project from UNCG.

“Very few people have looked at using natural products to address the problem of helminths,” said Oberlies, an associate professor in the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry. “Our aim is to find compounds that will kill these worms without harming the host.”

The grant is part of the Biotech Center’s Collaborative Funding Grant program, which supports partnerships between university researchers and private companies.

By Matt Evans
Original