BRIEF PROFILE:

NORDIN HJ LAJIS is a Senior Professor at the Department of Chemistry, University Putra Malaysia (UPM), and is currently leading a research group on bioactive natural products in the Institute of Bioscience of the same university, as its Head of the Laboratory of Natural Products. Prior to his appointment as the Head of this Laboratory, Nordin has held other academic positions in the university including as the Head of the Department of Chemistry and Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Science.

His current research interests are the chemical studies of bioactive natural products (isolation, structure elucidation and synthesis), medicinal chemistry, the development of On-line Rapid Identification of Constituents in Bioactive Matrices, and standardization methods. Through out his academic career, Nordin has been actively pursuing research and teaching of chemistry as well as promoting research endeavors among scientists in the country. In the earlier years of his research, he received two consecutive research grants from the International Foundation for Science.

He has now published more than 150 research papers and manuscripts as book chapters, written two text-books in organic chemistry, translated two books into Malaysian Language, and edited five academic books. Due to his achievements in research he was recently appointed as the member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Phytochemical Analysis.

As part of his contribution to nation development, he has also become a member of the Board of Director of the Melaka Biotechnology Corporation. His contribution in the promotion of research in chemistry was recognized by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC), which recently appointed him as the Fellow of the organization.

His earlier major efforts in promoting research interest in natural products was to organize the Eighth Asian Symposium on Medicinal Plants, Spices and Other Natural Products in 1994, which was in fact the first international symposium in natural products ever held in Malaysia. In conjunction with this event, he founded the Malaysian Natural Products Society, which was eventually registered in the following year. He was the first President of this Society. To further his effort, he has also served in various committees including the National Biodiversity Committee and the Committee on Chemical Terminology in Malaysian Language, the sub-Committee on Science for the UNESCO-National Commission formed by the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Science, Technology and the Environment. For his commitment to the promotion of research in natural products chemistry in the country, he was appointed the National Point of Contact Representative for the UNESCO-Regional Network for the Chemistry of Natural Products in Southeast Asia. By this appointment, he was able to coordinate the activities necessary for the enhancement of natural product research in the country.

Professor Nordin has also been actively involved in the international activities. He was the Executive Secretary for the UNESCO-Regional Network for the Chemistry of Natural Products in Southeast Asia in 1991-1993. In addition to this, he is a standing member of the International Advisory Committee for the Asian Symposium on Medicinal Plants, Spices and Other Natural Products, a member of the Board of the Asian Network of Research in Antidiabetic Plant, and a founding member of the Asian Phytochemical Society. Currently, he is involved in the Task Group for the Development of Methodologies and Protocols on Documentation, Evaluation of Safety and Efficacy and Standardization of Herbal Medicine, an initiative of the IUPAC.

Professor Nordin obtained his PhD degree from the University of Georgia, USA in 1979 in the field of Organic Synthesis, and joined the Department of Chemistry, UPM as a young lecturer. His early education began in Melaka, after which he continued his education at Sekolah Alam Shah. He later continued his university education at the University Kebangsaan Malaysia where he obtained his Bachelor of Science degree in 1974.

RESEARCH INTERESTS:

NATIONAL CONTRIBUTIONS:

• President of Malaysian Natural Products Society.
• National Biodiversity Committee.
• Chemical Terminology in Malaysian Language Committee.
• Sub-committee on Science for the UNESCO-National Commission formed by the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Science, Technology and the Environment.
• Member of the Board of Director of the Melaka Biotechnology Corporation.
• Member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Phytochemical Analysis.

INTERNATIONAL CONTRIBUTIONS:

RECENT PUBLICATIONS (2005-2006):

• Rohaya Ahmad, Abdul Manaf Ali D.A. Israf, Nor Hadiani Ismail, Khozirah Shaari and Nordin Hj. Lajis, 2005, Antioxidant, radical-scavenging, antibacterial, cytototoxic and anti-inflammatory activity of methanolic extracts of some Hedyotis s pecies, Life Sciences. 76, 1953-1964.

• M. Habsah, Nordin H. Lajis, A.M. Ali, M. A. Sukari, Y.Y. Hin, H. Kikuzaki and N. Nakatani, 2005, Antioxidative diarylheptanoids and terpenoids from Etlingera elatior (Jack) R. M. Smith [Zingiberaceae], J. Natural Products, 68 (2), 285-288.

• K. Saha, N. H. Lajis, K. Shaari, A. S. Hamzah and D. A. Israf, 2005, Chemical constituents of Leea indica (Burm. F.) Merr. (Leeaceae), Mal. J. Science , 24 (1), 75-79.

• M. A. Sukari, B. K. Neoh, N. Y. Rashid, W.N. F. Jalil, M. Rahmani, N. H. Lajis, G. C. L. Ee and A. M. Ali, 2005, Studies on the constituents and medicinal properties of some zingiberaceaous species, Mal. J. Science , 24 (1), 167-173.

• T.M. Chong, M.A. Abdullah, N.M. Fadzillah, O.M. Lai and N.H. Lajis, 2005, Jasmonic acid elicitation of anthraquinones with some associated enzymic and non-enzymic antioxidant responses in Morinda elliptica,  Enzyme and Microbial Technology, 36 (4), 469-477.

• Nordin Hj. Lajis and Rohaya Ahmad, 2005, “Phytochemical Studies and Pharmacological Activities of Plants in Genus Hedyotis/Oldenlandia, in Studies in Natural Products Chemistry: Bioactive Natural Products (Part M), Vol 33, Atta ur-Rahman (Ed.), pp 1057-1090.

• Khozirah, S., Suryati, Faridah, A., N. H. Lajis and D. A. Israf. 2005. A Geranylacetophenone from Melicope ptelefolia Leaves. Natural Products Research, 20(05), 415 - 419.

• A. Faridah, D. A. Israf, Y. Umi Kalsom, K. Shaari, S. Khamis and Nordin H. Lajis, 2006, A ntioxidant and nitric oxide inhibitory activities of selected Malay traditional vegetables (ulam), Food Chemistry , 95 (4), 566-573.

• Dharma Permana, Faridah Abas, Maulidiani, Khozirah Shaari, Johnson Stanslas, Abdul Manaf Ali and Nordin Hj. Lajis , 2005, Atrovirisidone B, A New Prenylated Depsidone with Cytotoxic Property from the Roots of Garcinia atroviridis, Z. Naturforschung, 60 (7-8): 523-526.

• Rohaya Ahmad, Khozirah Shaari, Nordin H. Lajis, Ahmad Sazali Hamzah, Nor Hadiani Ismail, Mariko Kitajima, Shazia Anjum (2005) Anthraquinones from Hedyotis capitellata, Phytochemistry, 66, 1141-1147.

• Faridah Abas, Nordin H. Lajis , Khozirah Shaari, Daud Ahmad Israf, Johnson Stanslas, Umi Kalsom Yusuf, and Salahuddin Mohd Raof, 2005, A New Labdane Diterpene Glucoside from the Rhizomes of Curcuma mangga, J. Natural Prod., 68(7), 1090-1093.

• Syahida A., D.A. Israf, Nordin H. Lajis , S. Khozirah, M. Habsah, Jasril, D. Permana, I. Norhadiani, 2005, Effect of compounds isolated from natural products on IFN- g /LPS-induced nitric oxide production in RAW 264.7 macrophages, Pharmaceutical Biology, 44(1): 50-59.

• Faridah Abas, Lim Siang Hui, Syahida Ahmad, Johnson Stanslas, D.A. Israf, Khozirah Shaari, Nordin H. Lajis , 2006, Biological Evaluation of Curcumin and Related Diarylheptanoids, Z. Naturforschung, in press.

• A. Syahida, D.A. Israf, D. Permana, N.H. Lajis, S. Khozirah, A.W. Afiza, T.A. Khaizurin, M.N. Somchit, M.R. Sulaiman and A.A. Nasaruddin, 2006, Atrovirinone inhibits pro-inflammatory mediator release from murine macrophages and human whole blood, Immunology and Cell Biology, 84 , 250-258.

• A. Syahida, D.A. Israf, N.H. Lajis, S. Khozirah, M. Habsah, A.W. Afiza, T.A. Khaizurin, W.Y. Hoo, A.A. Nasaruddin, A.K. Arifah, M.R. Sulaiman and M.N. Somchit, 2006, Cardamonin, a chalcone isolated from the fruits of Alpinia rafflesiana , suppresses pro-inflammatory mediators and free radical generation in activated RAW 264.7 cells and whole blood. Euopean J. Pharmacol, 538, 188-194.

• Srinivasa R. J., Hamzah A. S., Lajis N. H., Saad M. S., Stevens M. F. G. and Stanslas J., 2006, Semisynthesis and cytotoxic activities of andrographolide analogues., J. Enzyme Inhibition & Med Chem., 21(2), 145–155.

• T.A. Khaizurin, D.A. Israf, A. Syahida, N.H. Lajis , S. Khozirah and A.W. Afiza, 2006, Atrovirinone inhibits COX-2 and iNOS expression via suppression of p65NF-?B nuclear translocation and I-?Ba phosphorylation in IFN-?- and LPS-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells. Molecular Immunology – in press.

• Israf, D.A., Khaizurin, T.A., Syahida, A., N.H. Lajis and Khozirah, S. (2006). Cardamonin inhibits COX and iNOS expression via inhibition of the NF-?B pathway. Molecular Immunology – in press.