Research Week 2020- Keynote Address Prof. Jacob Midiwo

Prof. Jacob Midiwo will on Friday 16th October deliver a keynote address on The kenyan higher plant diversity: a potential source of anti-parasitic compunds of neglected tropical diseases.

Prof. Jacob O Midiwo undertook his PhD studies in Organic Chemistry at the University of Maryland, College Park, USA studying fungal mycotoxins which had potential in cancer chemotherapy. He graduated from that University in 1981 and took up lectureship position at his alma mater, University of Nairobi where he has risen through the ranks to full professorship.

Prof. Midiwo has done research on the secondary metabolites of popular Kenyan medicinal plants from a range of plant families: Myrsinaceae, Polygonaceae, Papilionacea, Compositae, Rutaceae and Sapindaceae.
 
He has published over 60 papers in refereed international journals describing the structures and bioactivity of compounds with various bioassay models- anti-plasmodial, anti-microbiol, mosquito larvicidal, insect anti-feedant effects and their capacity as anti-oxidants - in search of their potential application. 

Prof. Midiwo was the executive secretary of the Natural Products Research for East and Central Africa, NAPRECA, for nine years from 2004-2013. He is a fellow of the following scientific societies, Royal Society of Chemistry, the African Academy of Sciences and the Kenya National Academy of Sciences.