Author name: Halo World

Women in this era have to perform difficult task, their roles are not merely to look after and take care of their family, but also to work and build their career. Not a few women have essential position in the institution they lead. Her office room was well-organized and simple, Prof. Maria Lucia Inge Lusida, dr., M.Kes., Ph.D had spared some time in her busy schedule. She shared some stories about her career as a researcher as well as the Head of Ketua Institute of Tropical Disease Universitas Airlangga, Surabaya. Since she started learning at Faculty of Medicine UNAIR in 1984, she has never imagined herself to be a researcher as well as a professor like she is now. She felt like the common medical students, going to classes regularly and discussing things with friends. But, after she finished bachelor program, she did not have the chance to serve in the community. “I had to wait for my turn. At that time, my husband had come back from service, it was known as Inpres. If I had gone, I would have been far from my husband. So, I became a lecturer and taught,” said Inge reminiscing. Inge was named as the professor on Clinical Microbiology FK UNAIR on July, 24 2010. She was conferred as UNAIR 388th professor or 96th since UNAIR had become a State University Acting as Legal Entity (PTN-BH). Inge, which was the secretary of ITD UNAIR when she was conferred as a professor, presented her scientific speech entitled “Peran Pemeriksaan Berbasis Biologi Molekuler dalam Upaya Penanggulangan Hepatitis B di Indonesia (Roles of Medical Test Based on Molecular Biology in the Effort to Eradicate Hepatitis B in Indonesia)”. The lecturer who has started her career in 1986 has conducted many researches on Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, and Hepatitis C. There are at least 26 titles of her researches on Hepatitis which had been published. “I was interested in molecular biology because there were still many diseases in Indonesia which were caused by fungi infection, virus and bacteria so I wanted to develop the researches on molecular biology,” said the doctor graduated from Kobe, Japan. Some of her researches published in 2015 were “Hepatitis B virus infection in Indonesia 21(38): 10714 – 10720 World J Gastroenterol”, and “A Deep-sequencing Method Detects Drug-Resistant Mutations in the Hepatitis B Virus in Indonesians 57:384-92 Intervirology”. As an active researcher in campus, Inge hoped that the government fully support the researches for the development of Education. Furthermore, the target to be a world class university is difficult without the government’s support. “As a lecturer, the research activity must be active. With the ongoing research, education will develop too,” said the professor on Clinical Microbiology FK UNAIR. Her concern to research field made her commit to make ITD UNAIR as the University Science and Technology Excellence Center (PUI-PT). She also had a big hope for other institute in UNAIR to catch up ITD’s success as PUI-PT. “At this moment, ITD UNAIR was the only institution in UNAIR as PUI-PT, I hoped that in the future there will be more institutes from UNAIR to be PUI-PT,” she said.   Balance Even though Inge is at the peak of her career, she needs supports from families especially at the current position she is in. She has to manages the institute which was named as Science and Technology Excellence Center on medical field from the Ministry of Research, Technology, and Higher Education in December 2015. Besides research, she also teaches and carries out her job as a doctor. Being women is not an easy task. They were given responsibilities to look after their children. In addition, they also build their career at work. Inge emphasized that education is the main key for women. She is against the opinion which says only men can study as high as possible. For her, gender equality should also apply in Education. “At that time, Kartini struggled for women’s education. It still has its relevance now. Education for women and men should not be different. Women are mothers. They will nurture the next generation,” she said. Inge stated that it was not an easy task to do things simultaneously, especially in the beginning of career. But, she just follows the rhythm at campus and family life. For her, the key is to balance career and family. “If a woman has a career, both roles should successfully carried out. Family should be managed and career should run professionally. It is not easy indeed especially in the beginning, but both should work at best as time will never turn us back,” said Inge. (*) Author: Defrina Sukma S Editor: Nuri Hermawan

Prof. Indah S. Tantular , dr., M.Kes., Ph.D., Sp.Par-K, is a doctor graduated from Nagoya University, Japan in the team of Institute of Tropical Disease (ITD) UNAIR which innovated on “Modifikasi Mikroskop Fluoresens untuk Diagnosa Cepat Malaria (Fluorescence Microscope Modification for Quick Malaria Diagnostics)”. The patent number of the product is P00201000244, published on October 6 2011 number 051.4628. By using this modified microscope, blood test to diagnose Parasites of Malaria could be done quickly and easily with low-cost. Actually, fluorescence microscope exists already in the market right now, and it is also used to diagnose malaria and others diseases caused by parasites but it is large and expensive. Indah S. Tantular and her team spotted the challenges which need to be solved. They modified regular microscopes, change the filter inside, and then add the halogen lamp with AC/DC power which is easily acquired (such as in car battery). Nevertheless, the lamp was then changed by LED lamp with battery power.   

One of the labs in UNAIR is Proteomics Lab in Institute of Tropical Disease (ITD). It has sophisticated and complete equipments. It keeps making innovations for the nation.  

The visit of Minister of Research, Technology and Higher Education has given some fresh air to stem cell research development. He praised the excellent stem cell development in Indonesia and said that it was equal with the development conducted abroad. It was stated by Mohammad Nasir when he was inspecting the research results of Universitas Airlangga researchers, on Friday, April 28, in Amerta Hall, Management Office Building Campus C UNAIR. “(Development of ) stem cell in Indonesia is as good as other countries. Stem cell in Indonesia is considered excellent. We, (compared to) China, America and Iran, are not very different. We want to push the researchers to develop more,” stated Nasih. In the occasion, Nasir also had a dialogue with a patient using the stem cell in UNAIR Hospital, Andi Muhammad Ardan. Andi suffered from cirrhosis because of hepatitis since 2013. During the dialogue, Andi who is a surgery specialist has had three times stem cell treatments. “I suffered from it in 2013, treated with stem cell three times. Then, it was repairing and the condition is now normal,” said Andi. In response to positive result from the cured patient with stem cell, Nasir said that that the ministry will keep supporting innovations of research development in university. Furthermore, he will also support the quality improvement of laboratories in universities. “This is the example of development, this is what we support. This kind of innovation is what we develop,” said Nasir. He hoped that the treatment with stem cell therapy can be used for the wider society. UNAIR stem cell researcher, Prof. Fedik Abdul Rantam, said that UNAIR is developing embryonic and mature cell. Stem cell research developed by UNAIR has high safety level and applicable to treat degenerative diseases. “We are developing this for diabetes mellitus therapy. There are more cases for this treatment in Surabaya. But stem cell has been applied to 12 degenerative diseases, such as bone fracture, cirrhosis, cancer and cerebral palsy,” said Fedik. Author: Defrina Sukma S

Two young researchers from Universitas Airlangga during their doctoral studies at Kobe University received an award from their faculty last October 2015. The young  researchers were Laura Navika Yamani (researcher of Institute of Tropical Disease UNAIR), and Tutik Sri Wahyuni (researchers ITD and a lecturer from UNAIR Faculty of Pharmacy). The award was Young Investigator Award (YIA) 2015, given by Prof. Kataoka, the dean of Faculty of Medicine, Kobe University. The award itself was a part of Kobe Homecoming Day (a welcoming day for new students, alumni, and public lectures on researches). The committee of the event invited professor assistants and students to participate in it. From 32 participants of poster competition, the judges graded the works based on the most votes. In this poster competition, Laura presented her research Ultra-deep Sequencing for Detection of Quasispecies Variants in the Major Hydrophilic Region of Hepatitis B virus in Indonesian patients, while Tutik presented her research Antiviral Activities of Medicinal Plants from Indonesia against Hepatitis C Virus. Based on the audience and judges, Laura and Tutik succeeded in winning YIA 2015. “The award is a blessing and the fruit of my research for my doctoral degree at Graduate School of Medicine of Kobe University. I have finished my paper publication as the requirement to graduate and in this event I presented the paper in a poster,” Laura said. Tutik felt the same way. The lecturer from Faculty of Pharmacy hoped that their achievement can attract researchers from other countries to see the research development in Indonesia. “With this award, I am more motivated to create more morks and of course this will prove that they also pay attention to researches from developing countries like Indonesia,” Tutik said. As appreciation, both of them got certificates and ¥100,000 prize money. Tutik planned to use the money to develop her research on hepatitis C anti-virus development with Indonesian plants. “From the ongoing research, some active compounds as anti-HCV were acquired and will be developed for other anti-viruses. The possibility to acquire other anti-viral active compounds from other plants is being studied until now,” Tutik said. Different plan was conveyed by Laura. After winning YIA 2015, Laura will prepare for her dissertation exam held in January 2016. “My dissertation exam is likely to be in January and hopefully I will graduate in March. Besides, with 5 months left in Japan I want to enjoy it and travel to places I had wanted to visit, especially the region which has Japanese traditional houses in snow, Shirakawa Go, in the last winter before going back to Indonesia,” Laura said. Other than YIA 2015, both of them also awarded as researches with achievements from UNAIR rector during Universitas Airlangga Open Assembly in its 61st Anniversary on November 10, 2015.  (*)

Surabaya, 6 Februari 2017 Institute of Tropical Disease trought Chairman, Prof. Maria Inge Lusida, dr., M.Kes., Sp.MK, Ph.D assign Working Contract to Rector UNAIR, Prof. Dr. Moh. Nasih., SE., MT., Ak., CMA. Working Contract 2017 is a target that have to be achieved by Institute of Tropical Disease about the target 2017 must be up from baseline on 2016. One of the target that must be achieve is Publication to International Scientific Journal (accepted) from 24 to be 40, , another else in Contract Join Research with national company from 22 to be 25. Bellow this is the detail contract on 2017 : We hope that target can be achieve together.

Dear colleagues, On behalf of the Organizing Committee, I am most pleased to extend to you a warm invitation to attend the 2nd Molecular and Cellular Life Sciences International Conference that will take place in Surabaya, Indonesia from June 17-18 2017. The theme of the 6th MCLS 2017 Conference is New trends in life science related in biotechnology and medicine; it will cover a broad disciplines of biology, chemistry and medicine such as: – Structural biology – Biomolecular modelling – Biomolecular dynamics – Biotechnology – Infectious diseases – Other relevant topics website :   http://itd.unair.ac.id/mcls

Universities are the supporting institution for innovative research. The high quality of the human resources in a university can be seen from the quantity of the researches from them. To realize the product of the researches, there should be a connector between the researchers and the company. It was stated by the senior researcher of Institute of Tropical Disease (ITD) Universitas Airlangga (UNAIR), Dr. Widiyanti, drg., M.Kes, met in Shangri-La Hotel, Wednesday April 2016. Yanti, how she is known as, called it a business incubator. The role played by this business incubator is to connect the researchers’ expectation to the company. All this time, not few institutes have their own sectoral interests. The researchers conduct the research they have planned with great funding needed, while the producing company wants to market the products and gets great amount of profits. That what it meant from sectoral interests. “Business incubator is aimed to negotiate both sides’ expectations. If a bioproduct were mass produced, how much was the royalties, what were the test needed for the products and what should be optimized. We usually call it ttransitional research. Sometimes, further research even needed. If that happened, where was the funding from. Those are the domains of business incubator,” said Yanti. Supports needed Yanti who is also the Head of Scientific Publication and Journal Development Center (PPJPI) UNAIR said that the government needs to show its support to this area of research in universities. Researchers of HIV/AIDS ITD UNAIR hoped that the supports are in forms of funding, facilities and research policy which is added. “Related to research funding, it should be added. But we do not need only physical supports, the government should take side in this regard. It should provide fair attention to all components. Not only in the central,” said the Head of PPJPI UNAIR. Yanti suggested the government to change its policy patterns which do not Indonesian researchers all this time. She hoped that the government could determine block grant to appointed research centers, so the fund allocated was top down in character. “The importance of block grant in research centers, so the fund goes top down. For example ITD UNAIR was given some fund to produce some bioproducts. All this time, we compete, we submit a research proposal at national level. Whether approved or not. I suggest a system consists of academicians, businessmen, and regulators to decide priority to do first. If it is implemented, the research and bioproducts resulted by Indonesian researchers will develop. We need extraordinary efforts to be independent,” said Yanti. (*) Author: Defrina Sukma S Editor    : Binti Q. Masruroh

Indonesian Journal of Tropical and Infectious Disease (IJTID) managed by Institute of Tropical Disease (LPT) Universitas Airlangga was accredited nationally on May 30. It means there are currently nine journals of UNAIR accredited nationally. To UNAIR NEWS on Tuesday June 6, the Head of Scientific Journal and Publication Development Center (PPJPI) UNAIR Dr. Prihartini Widiyanti, drg., M. Kes said that the IJTID had been reviewed by a judging committee of Minister of Research, Technology and Higher Education, March 31. The aspects assessed are the format of writing, quality of the content, publication continuity, language grammar and many other scores. Established in 2010, IJTID was aimed to facilitate the publications of the researches of ITD.  Yanti stated that IJTID has been using Open Journal System (OJS) while the National Journal Institute just used OJS on April 1, 2016. With this journal accredited nationally, Yanti hoped that it can be an alternative for UNAIR or other universities’ academicians in Indonesia in disseminating their works. As the initial commitment, Yanti as the Chief editor of IJTID said that this journal will make efforts to be internationally accredited journal such as Scopus and Thomson. The responsibility does not stop after being indexed nationally. It has to maintain this achievement every five years as there are some journals received lower accreditation for some reasons such as the limited scale of the authors, the articles’ topics update, or the continuity of publications. Yanti said that IJTID is supported by the experts of infectious disease in the world, either researchers or lecturers. It means that the supports from IJTID network is excellent. With IJTID acknowledged, Yanti hoped that the journal management in UNAIR also supports UNAIR journals towards national and international accreditation as PPJPI is the work unit which gives access, information or facility to other related units which manage the journals. “We are a supporting unit, because the authority is still with the journal managements in every faculty, by holding workshops, guidance, journal development dissemination, review information and other things. So, there should be commitment from the journal management,” added Yanti. (*) Author : Binti Q. Masruroh Editor    : Defrina Sukma S.

Exploring vast natural resources through enzyme research using farming waste for agro-industrial development is what Prof. Dr. Ni Nyoman Tri Puspaningsih, Dra., M.Si does. The professor on organic chemistry known as Prof. Nyoman has been researching the enzyme since 2001. His research on agro-industrial field was based on his eagerness to explore Indonesian natural richness. Initially, Prof. Nyoman thought about various kinds of micro-organisms or biotas near hot springs. But then he had an idea to utilize enzyme which withstands in high temperature. “Enzymes which withstand high temperature must be needed for industrial processes which use heating. If we use enzymes, we can decrease chemical substances usage. For instance in paper industry,” Prof. Nyoman said. In his research, Prof. Nyoman with Proteomik study club of UNAIR Institute of Tropical Disease, have developed enzyme as bioproduct originated from Indonesian microorganisms. This enzyme bioproduct was named Excelzyme and its name was patented by Ministry of Law and Human Rights in 2011. Excelzyme 1 bioproduct was formulated by Prof. Nyoman and his study group in the recycling process of used paper. In the process, conventional factories use chemical substance to do the bleaching process. For Prof. Nyoman, the chemical substances cause environmental problems. Excelzyme 1 trial was done in a paper factory in Surabaya, Prof. Nyoman’s bioproduct has produced recycled paper with exceeded quality of the standards. In its brightness test, based on SNI 14-0091-1998, Excelzyme 1 has produced brightness level at 60.40% ISO. In its stretch index test, recycled paper produced with Excelzyme 1 showed stretch index at 25.78 Nm/g, higher from SNI 21.50 Nm/g. In tear test, the paper with Excelzyme 1 showed tear index at 8.36 mN.m2/g, higher from SNI standards at 3.56 mN.m2/g. Prof. Nyoman hoped that by using Excelzyme 1 bioproduct, dangerous chemical substances usage will be reduced in the process of paper recycling. (*) Author :  Defrina Sukma Satiti