Saudi chemist invents new medical technique

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service - if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at http://ift.tt/jcXqJW.

Tuesday 02 Feb 2016 - 19:20 Makkah mean time-23-4-1437 Jeddah, (IINA) - A Saudi woman has used her expertise in chemistry to develop a new device that can carry drugs to points of inflammation in the body, Arab News reported. The 39-old-year Adah Al-Mutairi, who currently lives in the U.S, holds a doctorate in chemical engineering and works at the University of California. She received a $3 million global innovation award from Health Industry Number (HIN), the largest organization supporting scientific research in the U.S. Her device, which was recognized as one of the four greatest inventions by the U.S Congress in 2012, provides a way to penetrate the body, detect inflammation, and provide treatment using nanocapsules containing medicine, according to reports. Al-Mutairi said the technology has been successful in treating eye and rheumatoid patients in the U.S, with possible applications in other fields including agriculture, engineering, and manufacturing. This work is now taking place, she said. She has been motivated by a determination to do something good for humanity. “Ten years ago I started asking heart surgeons what their biggest problem was. Most said it was blockages of arteries that lead to strokes, specifically accumulation of fat in artery walls with age; however, the problem was cardiologists could not determine if there was inflammation especially in the early stages”. “I began to ask about how to find and eliminate inflammation. As I began researching this, I came up with the idea of developing a nano-capsule with light which can be dispersed throughout the body, to find and treat inflammation with drugs”. She said the development took ten years, by 2011 they were able to produce a substance that interacts with the inflammation. “Then in 2013, we were able to develop the nanocapsule technology that does not dissolve in water and only opens on contact with inflammation in the human body”. Al-Mutairi’s invention has attracted the interest of several firms, including a Japanese agricultural company and Pfizer, who purchased a license for its use from the university. There has also been interest from other pharmaceutical, chemical, engineering, and solar companies around the world. Al-Mutairi earned her bachelor’s degree in chemistry in 2000 from Occidental University in Los Angeles, and her master’s in biochemistry from the University of California. After obtaining her doctorate in chemical engineering in 2005, she went on to produce numerous studies and a book that has been translated into German and Japanese. She then worked as a professor in California. Al-Mutairi is currently working with her brother Khaled Al-Mutairi, a well-known plastic surgeon in the U.S, to support research in plastic surgery, specifically developing a new chemical to rid the body of excess fat. AG/IINA