On the 18th of January 2019, VIP CORALS launched a kick-off event for its 1st anniversary on February 14, 2019. The kick-off event was a seminar about “Biological Activity and Marine Biodiversity.”
Dr. Armin Coronado of Polytechnic University of the Philippines discussed his study entitled “Biological Activities of Sulphated Polysaccharides from Brown Seaweeds and their Potential Applications in Pharmaceutical and Related Industries.” In his study, Dr. Coronado highlighted the potential applications which include the antimicrobial activity of Crude Ethanolic Extract (CEE) against Staphylococcus aureus, and the Crude Sulfated Polysaccharide (CSP) as natural anti-cancer compound.
Dr. Noel Saguil of University of Utah played a 12-minute video presentation about the cone snails, its diversity, and the various researches done on cone snails. Dr. Saguil later discussed about Conus geographus, the ocean’s most venomous and deadliest cone snail, and recounted his experiences with C. geographus. However, on 2017, there was a breakthrough on drug development which involve the utilization of C. geographus’ venom as treatment for hormonal cancer.
Asst. Prof Ruthela Payawal from the Polytechnic University of the Philippines was also present in the seminar.
At the conclusion of the event, Dr. Jayvee Saco announced that VIP CORALS will be celebrating its 1st founding anniversary and invited the guests to come and celebrate with the center.