
Dya Fita Eddy DIBWE
Assistant Professor
Ph.D. (Pharmaceutical Sciences)
- Affiliation in the Faculty [department]
- Undergraduate teaching [division]
Discipline
Natural Products and Drug Discovery, Chemical Biology, Lipid droplets, Metabolomics, Biologically active substances, Functional foods
Subject of Research
1) Uncovering new bioactive secondary metabolites using advanced NMR and LC-MS techniques.
2) Study of dietary bioactive compounds in the prevention of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD)/non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH)-associated Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).
3) Investigation on chemo-biological interaction of lipid droplet accumulation inhibitors and natural anticancer agents.
4) Discovery of anti-austerity agents from different origins.
Self-Introduction
1) I am searching for natural bioactive substances that regulate lipid droplet accumulation (LDA) and oxidized lipid droplets (oxLDs) in hepatocytes and identifying specific lipid signatures under LDA and oxLD conditions using our unique LC-MS quantification and imaging approaches.
The intracellular accumulation of lipid droplets in the liver is the initial stage of NAFLD. NASH is the more progressive form of NAFLD. Early, effective, and safe prevention and management of NAFLD/NASH are urgently required. Thus, natural bioactive products with lipid-droplet-accumulation inhibitory (LDAI) activity are emerging as alternatives to prevent and manage NAFLD/NASH-HCC and obesity associated with NAFLD.
2) I am exploring a new generation of anticancer agents by utilizing the austerity strategy (discovery of agents that inhibit cancer cell tolerance to nutritional starvation) and studying the metabolic alterations that occur during rich and starvation conditions in pancreatic cancer cells using NMR and MS approaches.
In pancreatic cancer, symptoms are subtle and nonspecific, which causes cancer to advance without detection, and the early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer is lifesaving. The discovery of metabolomic anti-austerity biomarkers in pancreatic cancer could also be useful in establishing a specific diagnosis. Metabolomics/lipidomics studies under nutrient-rich and nutrient-deprived conditions could reveal novel cancer biomarkers that might expand our current understanding of pancreatic cancer.
Message for Examinees
The future is reserved for those who cherish the beauty of their dreams and firmly believe in themselves. When people have confidence in their abilities, it can have a profound impact on their lives. Consequently, confidence and self-assurance can lead to remarkable results.