At the Bioactive Botanical Research Lab, professor of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences Navindra Seeram is leading compelling research into the healing properties of medicinal plants.
Seeram earned his Bachelor’s of Science in Guyana and then continued on to Jamaica where he earned his Ph.D. in Natural Products Chemistry, before completing a post-doctoral fellowship at Michigan State University.
It was his connections to South America that drove him to study and research medicinal remedies from natural products.
“I grew up in a very poor South American country,” Seeram said. “Imagine growing up where there is no CVS or Rite Aid, and we don’t have access to physicians. Without western healthcare, as we know it in the United States, we had to turn towards natural products and medicinal plants.”
Seeram’s primary focus is natural products from Maple. “After I left Michigan, I went to Los Angeles to the University of California Los Angeles. Being in California, you are exposed to many natural products, but what doesn’t grow there that grows here is maple.”
A partnership between Seeram and the Federation of Maple Syrup Producers in Quebec enables him to complete extensive research and discovery about the health benefits from maple extraction.
Seeram said they have learned a lot about the remedies from maple, but a large amount still remains. He also noted that his research team is leading the world in maple discovery.
Seeram referred to the structure of his lab as a business, himself overseeing various parts of it, but allowing his students to get their hands on research that interests them, and supporting them along the way.
Hang Ma, Seeram’s lab manager, said “Dr. Seeram really encourages us to go explore science and research. He doesn’t really set boundaries for us for the research in the lab, but he encourages us to be flexible and to explore.”
A portion of the research being conducted in Seeram’s lab is orchestrated by Shelby Johnson, a graduate student in the Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Program.
Johnson started her education at Salve Regina University, where she worked with campus faculty investigating the “modification of nutrients in water to get different yields of certain compounds in plants.” It was one of those professors that suggested Johnson look into the Rhode Island Idea Network of Biomedical Research Excellence (RI-INBRE).
Through RI-INBRE, Johnson spent the summer before graduation with Seeram in his lab, and he suggested that she apply into the program. Since graduating from Salve Regina in 2016, she has been working in Seeram’s lab.
One of the interesting aspects of Johnson’s research study is that she is using fruit flies as test subjects for Parkinson’s Disease.
“We have genetically modified flies, so they express human LRRK2, which is a gene a that has been identified in Parkinson’s as having mutations, potentially causing a lot of the effects that you see,” Johnson said.
According to the Parkinson’s Foundation, Parkinson’s Disease is a neurodegenerative disorder that affects predominantly dopamine-producing neurons in a specific area of the brain called substantia nigra.
The progression of symptoms occurs over a period of years. People with Parkinson’s may experience tremors, balance problems, limb tightness and slowness of movement. Currently, there is no cure and no method of detection, although there are treatment options to ease the symptoms. Although the disease is not fatal, it has the potential to result in serious disease complications.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention rated disease complications from Parkinson’s as the 14th leading cause of death in the United States.
Johnson tests the mobility of the flies and is exploring the idea of olfactory, or smell testing, which is a noteworthy symptom of Parkinson’s. She says that they treat the flies as part of their food, adding natural product right on top of the food that the flies will eat.
“We’ve had some interesting findings, and some of our natural products are allowing the flies to climb better than if you treat with nothing,” Johnson said. “Although that is interesting in itself, there is a lot more to discover to find out what is going on. It’s a work in progress.”
Johnson had many positive things to say as a member of Seeram’s lab group, specifically how Seeram allows his students to research within their interests. She says “I have learned so much more than if my PI said ‘this is the exact setup, I’ve done this a million times.’ He kind of gives us free range to do what we want, explore, and then come back and make sense of it with him.”