USM researcher wins top German award, proceeds to fund ketum research
The 45-year-old was among 2,000 who submitted proposals for the Georg Forster Research Award, and only 10 were chosen to receive EU60,000 (RM294,856) in research funding.
Her chosen topic was...
Universiti Sains Malaysia researcher Zurina Hassan has won a prestigious German research award which will be used to fund her research on ketum and butterfly pea.
The 45-year-old was among 2,000 who submitted proposals for the Georg Forster Research Award, and only 10 were chosen to receive EU60,000 (RM294,856) in research funding.
Her chosen topic was the treatment of neurological and psychiatric disorders, such as addiction and Alzheimer's disease.
Contacted by Malaysiakini, Penangite Zurina said she was grateful to have won the award because the competition was very stiff.
Zurina said her research, to be conducted in the University Hospital Erlangen, Germany, will study the effects of ketum and butterfly pea.
"For ketum, I want to determine the dosage which causes addiction and the dosage that affects memory," she said.
As for the butterfly pea, Zurina said her research will study the effects of the plant on those suffering from dementia and Alzheimer's.
"I have been using butterfly pea for the elderly who are suffering from memory loss. I hope to go to Germany and discuss ways to commercialise (the drug).
"I am proposing capsules," she shared.
Zurina is an expert in addiction neuroscience. She is best known regionally for her work on ketum - a controlled substance under the Poisons Act 1952 but still widely cultivated, especially in Kedah and Perlis.
The Georg Forster Research Award is open to researchers from the developing world who are recognised internationally.
Winners are expected to conduct their research in Germany in collaboration with local partners.
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