Rupika Delgoda, D.Phil. is a Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Science and Technology and Head of the Natural Products Institute, at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona. Following a doctoral degree in Pharmacology at Oxford University, U.K. and a post-doctoral research Fellowship in Biochemistry at the University of Leicester, U.K., she commenced research in Jamaica at UWI in 2002. Her current research is focused on bio-prospecting Caribbean natural products. With the support of local and overseas granting agencies, Dr. Delgoda has established dedicated research facilities for identification of cytotoxic, chemopreventive natural products; the evaluation of drug-herb interactions, and has an interest in developing effective ways of controlling mosquito borne diseases. She has been the recipient of the UWI Principal’s Best researcher award and serves on several committees including the National Nutraceutical Industry, the Cannabis Research and Development Evaluation and Monitoring and the International Society for the Development of Natural Products.

Dr. Badal McCreath is a distinguished young scientist who holds the 2014 Elsevier Early Career Woman Scientist award in Chemical Sciences for the Latin America and Caribbean region. She has over 10 years’ experience in natural products research and holds a patent pending for the anticancer potential of natural products using cancer and normal cell lines.

Dr. Badal McCreath holds a number of national and international awards and distinctions. At the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona, she was the 2010 Inaugural Luther Speare Scholar in addition to being the Young Scientist/Technologist awardee at the biennial 23rd Science and Technology Conference and Expo hosted by the Scientific Research Council and the Jamaica Public Service Co. She along with collaborators was also the recipient of the 2013-2014 Principal’s award for best work in anticancer research, UWI, Mona. She is a current member of various editorial boards including: The Journal of Cancer Science & Clinical Research and American International Journal of Biology. She is also an advisory board member and reviewer affiliated with Open Access Biochemistry, London.

Dr. Badal McCreath is currently a Lecturer in the Department of Basic Medical Sciences at the UWI, Mona, Jamaica. In addition to having taught Pharmacognosy for 3 years at the University of Technology, Jamaica, her current work involves pioneering the development of novel Jamaican prostate cancer (PCa) cell lines - a project that received national funding totaling approximately 100,000 USD. As PCa incidence and mortality rates are highest among men of African descent, the development of these tools representative of PCa tumors will be available to the global scientific community in order to delineate reasons for the reduced survivorship among this group. These novel cell lines can be used to screen potentially derived natural drug leads for anticancer efficacy utilizing a personalized framework.

Dr. Badal McCreath is a well published author who is currently penning her first book, “A woman’s journey to success.” She is a dynamic scientific orator who has presented at many scientific meetings and conferences. She continues to share her expertise by training and supervising students at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels while volunteering on various nonprofit organizational boards including the Society for Scientific Advancement. She is passionate about implementing a framework that can elevate the nature of biomedical research in Jamaica and the Caribbean with a specific focus on anticancer research. Such a framework that will utilize the country's own natural resources can contribute to improving Jamaica's and the Caribbean's economic standing as they obtain a global competitive edge. She is also deeply committed to improving science awareness and interest at the primary and secondary levels.