Under the auspices of the Novel Drug Discovery Platform project, the MRC organized a visit to South Africa by scientists from Newcastle in England. The aim of the visit was to allow the UK researchers to meet with researchers in SA in order to explore opportunities for collaborative research in novel drug development from medicinal plants.
The delegation visited various centres in South Africa, including visits to the CSIR and the University of Pretoria on 8 June 2006. Researchers from both sides were keen to learn about the latest research technologies and methodologies.
Discussions at the University of Pretoria focused on the opportunities to assess the effects of potential anti-malarial drug leads. An additional common interest was identified as health promoting compounds in foodstuffs.
The visit allowed researchers to identify possible opportunities for collaboration under the EU FP7 programme.