Monday, April 14, 2025 – The Faculty of Pharmacy once again held an International Guest Lecture which this time raised a very relevant and innovative topic: “Antiviral Potential of Natural Products”. The activity, which was carried out online, presented speakers Assoc. Prof. Dr. Łukasz Świątek from the Department of Virology with Viral Diagnostics Laboratory, Faculty of Medicine, Medical University of Lublin, Poland. He is also the President of the Polish Society of Virology – a prestigious position that reflects his credibility and long work in the world of virology.
In this online guest lecture, Prof. Łukasz explores the tremendous potential of natural products in antiviral drug discovery and development. He opened by tracing the history of natural product-based antiviral development, from the discovery of iodic suridine in 1964 to the fascinating story of calanolide A – an accidentally discovered compound with potential as an HIV reverse transcriptase inhibitor. This emphasizes that nature still holds many pharmacological ‘treasures’ that have yet to be fully explored.
On the technical side, Prof. Łukasz explained his laboratory’s approach to researching natural materials, including the use of cytopathic effect inhibition assays, yield reduction assays, and molecular techniques such as qPCR. He emphasized the importance of cytotoxicity screening, antiviral potency evaluation, as well as accuracy in plant identification, chemical analysis, and solubility considerations of the tested compounds.
Interestingly, he also touched on the challenges of antiviral research based on highly volatile essential oils, as well as the need for cell cycle analysis to ensure that the antiviral effects observed are not due to disruption of cellular processes alone. This shows how important a careful and thorough approach is in natural material-based research.
Not only speaking from a scientific perspective, Prof. Łukasz also shared his personal experience as a researcher and academic in the field of virology, and encouraged international collaboration in collecting plant samples from various parts of the world. He encouraged students and young researchers to explore the potential of research in the field of antiviral natural products, as the future of medicine depends on interdisciplinary innovations like this.
In closing, Prof. Łukasz expressed his appreciation to the organizers, and hoped that this lecture would open the door for global research collaboration and further exploration in the future.