The proposal offers therapeutic alternatives with the fewest possible side effects in treating behavioral diseases, such as depression and anxiety.
"History of Chilean Science 2022" is the name of the contest in which Dr. Eduardo Sobarzo-Sánchez participated with a video format of fewer than three minutes. In this video, he reports on the experience of leading a project that contributes to the growth of research in Chile, especially at our university. This project has the support of Merck, a company that turned 350 years in 2018. This project was entitled "A therapeutic approach against depression and anxiety: Strengthening Mental Health in Chile.”
Thus, the idea was to give a small approximation to the research carried out by our Medicinal and Bioinorganic Chemistry Research Group (QMEDBIN). This proposal, inserted within the basic sciences but with robust therapeutic applications, addresses an essential shortcoming in our country’s mental health, such as offering therapeutic alternatives that have the fewest possible side effects in treating behavioral diseases, especially depression and anxiety.
According to the WHO report "Depression and other Common Mental Disorders,” in Chile, 844,253 people over the age of 15 suffer from depression, that is, 5% of the population, and more than a million suffer from anxiety (6.5 %)
Since this tremendous mental health problem does not give in, research groups in Chile like ours are addressing this issue through new proposals. In our case, through the formation of active principles derived from naphthoquinolinone and perimidinone alkaloids obtained from nature, which have proven to be highly active and selective, with very low cytotoxicity and a broad spectrum of therapeutic benefits. For many years, Merck has enormously contributed to the generation of knowledge by supplying high specification and quality reagents and solvents, including instrumental analysis equipment, which have made it possible to advance in this Medicinal Chemistry project, since its origin in the University of Santiago de Compostela in Spain until now in our country at the Central University of Chile.
«This recognition awarded by Merck-Chile in the category of "Basic Sciences" (Main/Assistant Professor) fills QMEDBIN Research Group with pride and satisfaction. It gives us the necessary tools to continue with our research work in the field of Medicinal Chemistry, applied as a future therapeutic alternative to different treatments carried out in our country, and to which not all the population has access", said Dr. Sobarzo.
In addition, the researcher explained that in the decision to award the winners from Merck-Chile, "their stories are just a sample of the great curiosity that scientists in Chile harbor and the passionate effort they have to take each discovery one step further, making the history of science.” Indeed, this impulse will help us position ourselves and our Institute of Research and Postgraduate Studies -Facsalud even more as a research group.