Udayana University Medical Student Research Team Creates Innovative Eye Drop Therapy for Diabetic Retinopathy, Wins National Funding Award from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology in the 2025 PKM Competition

• Posted by: Admin
• Rabu, 22 Oktober 2025
• Has been read 773 time(s)

Udayana University Medical Student Research Team Creates Innovative Eye Drop Therapy for Diabetic Retinopathy, Wins National Funding Award from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology in the 2025 PKM Competition

Students from the Faculty of Medicine, Udayana University (FK Unud) have achieved another impressive achievement. Their research team has successfully secured funding for the 2025 Student Creativity Program for Exact Research (PKM-RE), organized by the Directorate of Learning and Student Affairs, Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia (Kemdikbudristek).

This success underscores the active role of FK Unud students in creating research-based innovations to address global health challenges.

The team's proposed research program focuses on the development of a non-invasive, smart eye drop therapy (Targeted Eye Drop) to treat diabetic retinopathy (DR), a serious complication of diabetes mellitus and a leading cause of blindness in the productive age group.

Through a combination of green tea leaf extract (Camellia sinensis) as the active agent and Fluorocarbon-Modified Chitosan (FCS) technology as the drug delivery system, this innovation is expected to directly target the retina without requiring invasive procedures. This approach offers a safer, more efficient, and more comfortable therapeutic alternative for patients.

The Faculty of Medicine's Exact Research Team, known as TEAM TEARTA (@tearta.udayana), consists of:

1. I Putu Krisna Agastya Artawan from the Undergraduate Medicine Program, class of 2023, as team leader.

2. Ni Wayan Pradnyadhari Kusumaputri from the Undergraduate Medicine Program, class of 2023, as member.

3. Ni Putu Wahyu Laksmi Natha Devi from the Undergraduate Medicine Program, class of 2023, as member.

4. Ayu Mas Eka Pradnyani from the Undergraduate Medicine Program, class of 2022, as member.

5. Dwi Nurcahya Ananda Suwarya from the Undergraduate Medicine Program, class of 2022, is a member.

This team is under the guidance of Dr. dr. Agung Nova Mahendra, S.Ked., M.Sc., from the Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Faculty of Medicine, Udayana University.

It is hoped that the results of this research will contribute to the development of better ophthalmic therapies and strengthen Udayana University's position as a leading university in innovative research in medicine and health sciences.

Gallery