5 October 2016Americas

LSIPR 50 2016: Patricia LiWang and Sir Paul Nurse

Name: Patricia LiWang

Organisation: UC Merced, University of California

Position: Professor

In 2011 Patricia LiWang discovered a new microbicide to stop HIV entering and infecting human cells through sexual transmission. It is thought to be 100 times more potent than current HIV inhibitors; the drug is a combination of two inhibitors, which it makes it more difficult for the HIV to mutate.

Since her initial discovery LiWang has continued her research on developing HIV inhibitors and in 2014 she was awarded a $2.3 million grant by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to continue her research for a further four years. LiWang suggested that her team was awarded the grant because proteins that work as drugs are uncommon in the pharmaceutical industry and the team’s work in that area represents a new field of innovation.

"LiWang has continued her research on developing HIV inhibitors and in 2014 she was awarded a $2.3 million grant."

LiWang is realistic about how to deliver HIV protection. She takes into account the practicalities that women in sub-saharan Africa face in day-to-day life and aims to produce a treatment that would be both affordable and accessible. Her initial model was for a cream or gel, but her research demonstrated that it was not as practical for women given that it required refrigeration, a luxury not available to the majority of people living with the disease in Africa. She is now exploring the treatment in the form of a film suppository.

LiWang and her team have developed a version of the drug that can last for up to six months in temperatures of up to 49°C as well as a time-release version that eliminates the need for daily use. In 2015 the team began research into human cells retrieved after surgery; this could lead to human trials of the drug in the very near future.

Name: Sir Paul Nurse

Organisation: The Francis Crick Institute

Position: Director

UK scientist Sir Paul Nurse has devoted his career to fighting cancer. A former president of the Royal Society and now director of the Francis Crick Institute, Nurse has collected numerous awards in his four decades of research, but his work reached its peak in 2001 when he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine or Physiology.

Sharing the prize with long-time collaborator Sir Tim Hunt, Nurse was recognised for his discovery of certain molecules that regulate the development of cells. The rapid development of cells can result in the expansion of defective chromosomes found in cancerous cells. Nurse discovered that the cyclin-dependent kinase plays an important role in regulating cell growth and, according to his research, was “highly conserved during evolution”.

“Science is worth fighting for. It helps us understand the world and ourselves better."

Nurse’s work has been a big step forward in cancer research. Knighted in 1999, during his long, distinguished career he has collected the Albert Einstein World Award of Science and the French Légion d'honneur.

While his work has contributed towards the wider public discussion in science, Nurse believes that scientists have a responsibility to counter the pseudoscience that has been used by certain interested parties. In a 2010 issue of New Scientist, he wrote that “scientific leaders have a responsibility to expose the bunkum”.

“Science is worth fighting for. It helps us understand the world and ourselves better and will benefit all humanity.”