Dr. Djaja Djendoel Soejarto, Professor Emeritus, College of Pharmacy, University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC)
Co-Investigator, Project 2
Dr. Soejarto is responsible for collecting tropical plant samples for the program project in Laos, which are then evaluated phytochemically in Project 1. He has more than 40 years of experience in field explorations in the sourcing and in the taxonomic identification of tropical plant materials used for anticancer and anti-HIV drug discovery research. This has led to the discovery and further development of biologically active molecules, such as the anti-HIV active lead compounds calanolides A and B from Calophyllum lanigerum and C. teysmannii (Clusiaceae), collected in Malaysia, and the anticancer active lead compounds phyllanthusmins C and D from Phyllanthus poilanei (Euphorbiaceae), collected in Vietnam. In addition, Dr. Soejarto has served previously as the Principal Investigator of an international, multidisciplinary, collaborative research [the Vietnam-Laos International Cooperative Biodiversity Group (ICBG) project, 1998-2012], of which one of its goals was to search and discover new biologically active compounds from plants of Vietnam and Laos as potential candidates for development for therapy against HIV/AIDS, cancer, tuberculosis, and malaria.