April 2018


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In the closing weeks of 2017 it was announced that Dr. Adesh Ramsubhag, Head of UWI St. Augustine’s Department of Life Sciences, had won an Anthony N. Sabga Caribbean Award for Excellence. He’s not too comfortable with it.

“I don’t really like to be in the limelight,” he says from his office in the Faculty of Science and Technology. “I find refuge in the lab, in a small circle.”

Dr. Ramsubhag, 50, is far from the typical introverted scientist. “I look at it as the Department’s award,” he says.

He may not like the limelight but he is very willing to share it. Not only is he quick to point to the contributions of his departmental colleagues and post-graduate students, he also stresses the partnerships with the Department of Chemistry. He highlights the role of past department heads. He looks back with gratitude at the lecturers and supervisors that encouraged him. He praises the small community Penal in which he grew up. He thanks his family.

If Dr. Ramsubhag’s circle is small, it is small like the centre of a spider web. Its tendrils spread in an intricate pattern of human connection. He values these connections as much as his academic achievements, his awards, and the high-value research currently taking place in the Life Sciences and Chemistry departments.

And well he should, because at the heart of his accomplishments is a capacity for critical and innovative thinking. He practices it and unleashes that capacity in students. This is very valuable to Trinidad and Tobago.

A new hope in natural products

In its June 2017 issue, UWI Today covered promising research coming out of the Life Sciences and Chemistry departments related to microorganisms with potential to become new drugs (https://sta.uwi.edu/uwitoday/archive/june_2017/article19.asp). Given the enormous biodiversity in the local soil, Dr. Ramsubhag and the research team believed the possibility existed for T&T to develop a Cuban-style pharmaceutical industry based on natural products that could generate billions in foreign exchange.

Since then the research results have only grown more promising. One PhD Chemistry student, Tresha Dobson, isolated nine “bioactive compounds” in several classes from samples taken from the Pitch Lake. Among the compounds discovered were some in the same class used to treat neurological diseases such as Parkinson’s and to develop anaesthetics. This research is currently being published.

The work of post-graduate researcher Antonio Ramkissoon, highlighted in the UWI Today piece, has also made dramatic progress. Experimenting on another compound discovered in Trinidad, it has been found to enhance the effectiveness of existing antibiotics. This is incredibly valuable as new and more powerful viruses have become resistant to antibiotics. The compound has undergone in vitro screening and animal testing, and has now reached the stage of human clinical trials.

“We believe we have completed as much as we can do in UWI and T&T,” says Dr. Ramsubhag. “We have engaged UWI’s business development office to get it patented. As soon as that is completed we will hopefully be starting negotiations with drug companies to take them to human trials.”

With work such as this it is easy to see why he has been selected for the 2018 Excellence Award.

“His work on microorganisms is producing exciting results that, if supported by further research, can lead to the development of pharmaceuticals, an export-driven industry estimated at a current value of US$1 trillion,” reads a statement from the ANSA McAL Foundation.

Dr. Ramsubhag will receive his award (in the area of Science and Technology) as well as $500,000 at a ceremony on May 5. Other laureates include Chevaughn and Noel Joseph of the Just Because Foundation (Public and Civic Contributions), Jamaican poet and novelist Professor Kei Miller (Arts and Letters), and Guyanese businessman William Boyle (Entrepreneurship).

More teaching, more research

Speaking to Dr. Ramsubhag, the award feels very much like a marker on a much longer journey. There’s an aura of great momentum about him and his close colleague, Professor Jayaraj Jayaraman, a biotechnologist and plant microbiologist. Together, with limited manpower, space and equipment, they have managed to mould an environment where a new generation of young researchers can grow.

Dr. Ramsubhag has decided to not seek another term as Department Head for the new academic year in September. Instead he will focus all his energies on teaching and research. In part this is to meet the growing interest in microbiology. But it’s also a reflection of his interest in the kind of scientists – and citizens – that Trinidad and Tobago needs.

“In a modern society the economy is fueled by innovation,” he says. “Research goes with innovation.”

And many students need their critical and innovative capacities unleashed: “Because the education system is not very conducive to critical thinking, there are inherent weaknesses in some (not all) students. The ability is there but because they have been conditioned in this archaic system of cramming and rote learning, sometimes you have to spend the time with the student to get them to think outside of the box. But in almost all cases they are able to do it. And that’s the tragedy of our education system. The potential is there but we are wasting it.”

But Dr. Ramsubhag is far from disheartened. He loves a challenge. And more importantly, he has seen the result, many times, of helping students find their creative and inquisitive voice.

“In many cases once you light that spark the student takes off in such a direction with such a speed that they overtake you in that particular project. This is the bliss that we can achieve as educators, when a student develops so much. You make the investment in time. You create that spark. And the student just takes off. And they gone,” he smiles.

Antonio, whose work has been so successful that it may eventually be looked upon as the seed for a new Caribbean pharmaceutical industry, has certainly taken off.

“Our relationship goes well beyond the normal student-supervisor,” he says of Dr. Ramsubhag. “He has been fundamental in my personal development as a young scientist, professional and man. I cannot have asked for a better mentor. His passion for microbiology has infected me as well and he taught me that spending hours in the lab is no problem when you are passionate.”

A progressive community

When he speaks of students and learning, Dr. Ramsubhag is not speaking as a dry and distant educator. He’s telling his own story.

“I hated school,” he says of his childhood. “I always reflect on my background. I know where I came from. And I see the potential in people. I would never look at anybody as not being able to achieve.”

He grew up in the agricultural community of Rochard Road in Penal, the youngest of nine siblings from a family of farmers.

“It was tough in a sense but it was also an enjoyable experience. I would look for any reason to stay home from school and when I did I would work in the field or the farm,” Dr. Ramsubhag recalls.

He had problems with reading, as well as the rigid and rote structure of school. But outside of the classroom his dynamism was on full display.

“My existence was for cricket and music,” he says. And he delved deeply in both.

Emulating the older boys of Rochford Road, who were part of a team called “Blue Max, Ramsubhag and his young cohorts formed “Blue Boys” cricket club. The crew went from ages nine to 15 but that didn’t stop them from building their own cricket grounds and establishing iron discipline for members – no practice no play. He was team leader, captain and even welder at 15-years-old.

Likewise, he learned the mandolin and performed Indian music at community events. This led to him joining the band Dil Ki Awaaz, a popular group still in action today. In the demanding environment of professional music, he was challenged to train and conquer his fears, eventually becoming lead guitarist of the band.

Farming, cricket, music and community, that was his life and he was happy with it.

“Although the community could be seen as backward back then (the 1970s), we were very progressive. Even my family, they may not have been academic but they always appreciated knowledge, ideas and learning,” he says.

Today he looks back at his early experience as the foundation for his innovative mindset. Eventually he fell in love with science and would turn his creativity to research that could enhance farming.

“I appreciate deeper knowledge. I am passionate about understanding how things work,” Dr. Ramsubhag says, also crediting mentors such as Professor Pathmanathan Umaharan (Director of the Cocoa Research Centre) and microbiologist Dr. Alfred Donawa for their role in his development as a scientist.

Innovation requires resource

Currently, Dr. Ramsubhag is especially excited about new methods of microorganism screening that will yield greater results from samples taken from soil. Because of Trinidad’s rich biodiversity there is opportunity to discover new compounds with pharmaceutical applications.

“The potential is enormous,” he says.

But the researchers are challenged by limited resources in technology and skilled manpower. In fact, Antonio’s very promising research required the postgraduate student to work unpaid during the vacation period, while Dr. Ramsubhag had to use his own money to buy materials. The disconnect between what the country needs, the innovative work being carried out in places such as the Life Sciences Department, and the investment being made in that work on a national level is astounding.

“It is a complex issue,” he says. “UWI has people with talent and competencies that can match any institution in the world. In terms of academic publication our rates are as high as many of the top universities. However our patent rate is woefully low. This means our academics are channeling their energy into what they deem as possible in the funding environment. We don’t have a culture of innovation because we don’t have a national infrastructure that supports innovation.”

However, Dr. Ramsubhag remains hopeful. “I believe the Government is developing a national innovation policy,” he says. Speaking specifically about the future of natural products research, he adds, “We have shown the potential. As we improve our screening capability hopefully something significant will be discovered and policymakers will take note and put the necessary funding mechanisms in place to contribute to a new industry.”

And after all, why shouldn’t he believe? Life has shown him that in farming, sports, music, research and teaching, once you do the work and do it to the best of your ability, you will see the reward.