Hamilton researcher wins award for natural drug to treat neurodegenerative diseases

A McMaster University researcher has won a national award for her cutting-edge efforts to develop new, natural drugs to improve brain health.

Dr. Timsy Bhando’s work includes the discovery of a novel fungi compound that is showing therapeutic potential for treating neurodegenerative disease and depression.

The postdoctoral researcher was presented the ‘Mitacs Innovation Award — Outstanding Innovation’ in Ottawa on Tuesday.

Supported by the Government of Ontario, the nonprofit national research organization “connects businesses and researchers to drive competitiveness and productivity in sectors such as life sciences, advanced manufacturing, energy, critical technologies and agriculture”.

Dr. Bhando works under the supervision of Professor Eric Brown in the Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences and is credited for discovering KCB-100, a lead chemical compound with great potential in treating neurodegenerative (the decline of cells in the central nervous system) and psychiatric conditions.

The project is being led by Vancouver-based Kapoose Creek Bio, a startup focused on accelerating the discovery and development of drugs from nature, which recently expanded their presence to Hamilton with an AI-powered drug discovery lab.

“The reality is we’ve exhausted our ability to explore synthetic drug compounds in the lab – researchers are generating millions of molecules but they’re not making new discoveries,” says Dr. Bhando.

Historically, many effective drugs have come from fungi (yeasts, molds and mushrooms), including penicillin to treat bacterial infection, statins to lower cholesterol, and cyclosporine for transplant surgeries.

Dr. Bhando’s contribution to the emerging field of fungal natural product discovery includes helping to develop a library of thousands of fungal extracts for future exploration.

She credits Mitacs for creating the perfect framework to accelerate her research, and for providing “the very essential support” required to bridge the gap between researchers and industry.

“We’re focusing our efforts on fungi as a source of new drugs because we believe nature makes the best medicine,” says Dr. Bhando.

Dr. Bhando is one of eight Mitacs Innovation Award winners across the country, and one of four winners in the Outstanding Innovation category.

Thousands of innovators take part in the Mitacs programs each year.

Founded in 1999, Mitacs Canada operates research and training programs in fields related to industrial and social innovation.