Kenoah Kovara, a student of the Faculty of Medicine (FK) Universitas Indonesia (UI) class of 2022, has made an achievement on the international stage. He won the Third Place award for Oral Presentation in the Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Research Track at the 2024 International Medical Student Research Conference (IMRC), organized by Phramongkutklao College of Medicine (PCM) in Bangkok, Thailand, on December 7-8, 2024.
This event was attended by around 600 participants from various countries, such as Bulgaria, China, Georgia, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Malaysia, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Turkey, England, United States, Vietnam, Yugoslavia, and Thailand. Kenoah carried out research work compiled together with two of his colleagues who are also FKUI students class of 2022, Josia Nathanael Wiradikarta and Thalita Nadira Izza Senen. The paper is titled “Exploring the Potential of Xanomeline/Trospium Chloride for Schizophrenia Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.” Their research aims to test the effectiveness of the combination of Xanomeline and Trospium Chloride (KarXT) drugs in relieving symptoms of schizophrenia.
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by impaired thinking processes, perception, emotional responses, and social interactions. The FKUI student team was interested in conducting this research because they were aware of the significant side effects of current schizophrenia medications. “We are aware of the side effects that accompany schizophrenia medications in general. So, when there was news that there was a schizophrenia drug with a new mechanism of action, we were interested in researching it and conducting a systematic review and meta-analysis to test its efficacy,” said Josia Nathanael Wiradikarta.
The team found that the combination of Xanomeline and Trospium Chloride has a different mechanism of action than the standard first and second-generation schizophrenia drugs. Xanomeline works as an agonist of the M1/M4 receptor, two subtypes of muscarinic receptors closely related to psychotic activity, while Trospium Chloride functions to relieve the anticholinergic side effects of Xanomeline.
“The results of our study show that the KarXT combination can improve positive, negative, and cognitive symptoms of schizophrenia without producing significant side effects as occurs with standard drugs. Therefore, this combination deserves to be developed as a new class of schizophrenia treatment,” said Thalita Nadira Izza Senen.
Responding to the achievements that have been achieved, Kenoah stated that participating in this international competition was a very valuable experience. “I am very happy to be able to participate in this competition and bring the award home to Indonesia. In addition, I also had the opportunity to establish relationships with delegates from various countries and meet old friends. I hope that other medical students can try to participate in this kind of competition to develop their insight and abilities during their studies,” said Kenoah.
He further said that one of the biggest challenges faced during the competition was answering questions from the jury which were sometimes unexpected. “Some of the questions from the jury were not included in the list of possibilities that we prepared. To answer them, a deep understanding of the research and the disease that we are studying from various aspects is needed,” he said.
FKUI also sent three other teams to this event. All teams won Gold awards for their research presentations. The first team consisted of FKUI students from the 2022 batch, namely Vindasya Almeira; Najiba Gina Nurisma; Nabila Najwa Nurisma; Michael Christianto; M. Ihsanul Kamil; Gabriela Elizabeth Wahyunin; Kenoah Kovara; Thalita Nadira Izza Senen; and Josia Nathanael Wiradikarta presented a research work titled “Efficacy of Acupuncture, Electroacupuncture, and Auricular Acupressure to Improve Sleep Quality on Breast Cancer Patients: Systematic Review and Network Meta Analysis.”
The second team consisted of Vindasya Almeira; Octaviona Kusuma Oei (FKUI 2023); Clara Inggrid Rouli T (FKUI 2023); Josia Nathanael Wiradikarta (FKUI 2022), and Thalita Nadira Izza Senen (FKUI 2022) with a study titled “Efficacy of Real-Time Functional MRI in Neurofeedback Training for Self-Regulation Among Major Depressive Disorder Patients: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.”
The last team consisted of Najiba Gina Nurisma (FKUI 2022) and Nabila Najwa Nurisma (FKUI 2022) with research titled “Home-Based Asynchronous Exercise to Enhance Physical Function and Quality of Life in Systemic Sclerosis Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.” The Dean of FKUI, Prof. Dr. dr. Ari Fahrial Syam, Sp.PD-KGEH., MMB, also appreciated the achievements of FKUI students, “Congratulations to Kenoah and the team for their achievements at IMRC 2024 and all FKUI students who participated in this competition. The achievements are proof that the young generation of Indonesia has great potential in global health research and can compete on the international stage. Hopefully, this success can motivate other students to continue to work and innovate in the field of research.
