A primer for the data scientist.
When it comes to drug trials, it’s necessary to shortlist high-potential candidates before incurring the extraordinary expenses of in-laboratory (in vitro) and clinical (in vivo) trials. …
How a novel approach to discovering and trialing plant-based antivirals is being attempted in Kenya to fight the pandemic
(Prev article #4 of 5) Note: this is the 5th of 5 articles in our series on flavonoids.
As we’re preparing for engaging here in Kenya to champion a distributed clinical trial of key flavonoids against covid, I think it’s an appropriate time to discuss the Big Picture in what…
n=1 herbals case study
Disclaimer: This is an opportunistic test of an herbal constituent previously under study. This post is not an encouragement to try similar on your own, it’s simply a source of data of use for the herbal antivirals clinical trialing community.
Following a Christmas weekend trip to the coast here in Kenya, I started coming down with cold/flu-like symptoms: a sore throat and proceeding to coughing. On return to Nairobi, I got tested at the garden-variety testing house, and turned out to be quite CoV+. So I re-engaged with the specialist…
A fraught debate on repurposed drugs
Update Sep 6th: The fluvoxamine Together Trial preprint came out Aug 23rd.
First, the good news in COVID-19 trialing. On Aug 11th, the repurposed drug fluvoxamine’s Phase III trial results for COVID-19 came out in the Together Trial. Through a 1,480 patient, randomized double-blind clinical trial it has been found…
What you’ll need to get your feet wet in biotech
Today I thought we would diverge from our usual data-science heavy stories and focus more on how our agroceutical venture, EMSKE Phytochem began. …
A (limited) in silico perspective.
The story of hydroxychloroquine during this pandemic is a sad and winding one. I think this article from Tablet does a great job articulating the tensions and misadventures that took place in the quest to either support or refute the case for its efficacy as a coronavirus therapeutic. …
COVID likely derived from the bat caves of Southern China’s Yunnan province originally. Ethnic groups in the region have been living in close proximity to these caves for millenia. Could the traditional plant-based medicines they developed be the key to managing the pandemic?
(Prev article #3 of 5) Note: this is the 4th of 5 articles in the series. (Next article #5 of 5)
In the midst of all our plant medicinals studying, one very stressful pressure always comes up: It’s tough to get clinical trials of any promising candidate compound initiated anywhere…
A machine-learning approach to in silico drug docking sheds light
So over here in eastern Africa, a lot of news has been made of Madagascar’s COVID-Organics extract made from a local plant, introduced by that country’s Institut Malgache de Recherches Appliquées (Malagasy Institute of Applied Research) IMRA, and promulgated especially by the president of Madagascar himself, Andry Rajoelina.
(Prev article #1 of 5) Note: this is the 2nd of 5 articles in our series on flavonoids. (Next article #3 of 5)
Update Jan 2021: This article documents what to date remains an inconclusive result based on the limited data available in the literature.
With the coronavirus epidemic still reaching its zenith in the US, I observe friends and family in San Francisco who work in ER wards and nearby county clinics post their scary treatment stories and PPE fundraisers on Facebook. It’s evident that something is very wrong.
Note: this is the 1st of 5 articles in the series. (Article #2 is here)
Meanwhile, I’m stuck at home in Kenya with a lot of time outside my social venture work to occupy. And as former astronaut Chris Hadfield says, “Become an expert on the thing that threatens you”…
Rick Sheridan
Coming from a multidisciplinary MIT technical background and startups in San Francisco & SE Asia, Rick leads @EMSKEPhyto . linkedin.com/in/rick-phyto
