The UGM Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences (FMIPA UGM) has expanded its roster of active professors with the inauguration of two new professors on Tuesday (Aug. 12). They are Professor Winarto Haryadi for tropical plant natural product chemistry and development of new drug compounds, and Professor Nurul Hidayat Aprilita for analytical chemistry.
With these appointments, UGM now has 540 active professors, while FMIPA UGM records 57 active professors out of a total of 77 it has had throughout its history.
In his inaugural speech titled “Development of Active Natural Compounds as Sources of Future Medicines,” Professor Haryadi emphasized that Indonesia possesses all the fundamental assets needed to become a global center for pharmaceutical raw material development.
According to him, the country is rich in biodiversity, holds traditional knowledge passed down through generations, and continues to strengthen its pool of researchers.
“The greatest challenge is how to integrate all these potentials into a single vision: innovation independence based on active compounds from Indonesia’s natural resources,” he said.
Professor Haryadi explained that the development of active compounds from natural products is a complex and integrated scientific endeavor. The research process involves extraction, fractionation, isolation, structure elucidation, bioactivity testing, and in silico studies using computational chemistry and bioinformatics.
His research has identified a new erythromycin derivative with strong antibiotic potential, as well as novel anticancer compounds from endophytic fungi. Additionally, invertebrate marine organisms such as the sponge A. suberitoides have yielded bioactive compounds with promising potential as active ingredients for malaria treatment.
Beyond this, Professor Haryadi has also studied two promising plant species: Premna serratifolia (locally known as buas-buas) and Coleus amboinicus (locally known as bangun-bangun).
The buas-buas plant is traditionally used by communities in West Kalimantan as both a vegetable and a treatment for hypertension, while the bangun-bangun plant is widely known among Batak communities to promote lactation.
Laboratory tests have shown that bioactive compounds from bangun-bangun possess anticancer properties, particularly against breast, prostate, and cervical cancer cells.
“The development of natural products is not just research but a strategic step toward national pharmaceutical sovereignty,” he stressed.
Meanwhile, Professor Nurul Hidayat Aprilita, in her inaugural speech titled “Modification of Industrial Solid Waste to Address Hazardous Heavy Metal Pollutants and Dyes,” highlighted the significant potential of industrial solid waste to be transformed into low-cost adsorbents.
He explained that waste materials such as nickel slag, coal bottom ash and fly ash, and steel slag are abundantly available as byproducts of industrial processes.
Through chemical modification with acids or bases and functionalization using polymers or complexing agents, their adsorption capacity for heavy metals and synthetic dyes can be significantly enhanced.
“This technology aligns with the principles of circular economy and green chemistry, which emphasize reuse, waste reduction, and environmental sustainability,” she said.
Professor Aprilita stressed that this technology can be applied at both laboratory and industrial scales, using simple processes and locally available raw materials.
He added that such innovation is highly promising for developing countries like Indonesia, given the abundant availability of raw materials, the ease of technological application, and its significant impact on improving environmental quality.
Author: Bolivia Rahmawati
Editor: Gusti Grehenson
Photographer: Firsto