Research Scientist
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My career began over a decade ago when I took a medical laboratory science job at the Clinical Laboratory Department of State Specialist Hospital, Ondo State, Nigeria. The job involved the analysis of human specimens for the purpose of diagnosis.
While my major at the University was Chemical pathology, the job allowed me access to all aspects of diagnostic medicine. After one year of starting the job, I was transferred to the newly established molecular diagnostic laboratory. This laboratory was established by the Institute of Human Virology Nigeria and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
This laboratory was established as part of the global effort to monitor the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV in sub-Saharan Africa where HIV is relatively endemic. Therefore, the laboratory was saddled with the basic responsibility of performing Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction on Cobas Ampliprep and TaqMan 48. The aim of this assay was for HIV detection and quantification in neonatal dried blood spots and maternal serum respectively.
In addition to the assay performed, I was heavily involved in data entry and analysis. This would have been enough but the innate desire to contribute immensely to the field of virology got me to the next phase of my career. My work at the molecular diagnostic did not only uncover the burden of HIV but it unveiled the role of data in understanding HIV epidemiology.
So, I pursued a master’s degree in public health (Biostatistics) at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC). My time at UNMC as a master’s student engendered some research works focused on comorbidities among people living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa. I found liver disease and alcohol were among the important determinants of quality of life among HIV-infected individuals.
Hence, this informed my next step of enrolling for a doctorate degree in Toxicology at UNMC.
Since I was interested in exploring a laboratory-based Ph.D., I worked briefly in the hematopathology laboratory of Nebraska Medicine where I honed my laboratory skills after years of departing from the laboratory.
My current doctoral degree which is funded by the National Institute of Health predoctoral fellowship (NIH F31) is focused on exploring the hepatotoxic effects of HIV and alcohol.
To answer my research questions, I currently use in vitro and in vivo study designs. I have gained several molecular skills which include gel preparation, immunofluorescence, immunoprecipitation, SDS-PAGE, mammalian cell culture, Western Blot polymerase chain reaction, image analysis, flow cytometry, RNA isolation, enzyme activity assay, ELISA, transfection technique, basic molecular techniques, and mice manipulation to study the human virus.
I recently became an Adjunct Professor of public health at Stetson University, where I teach public health. I am also a lead pastor of Winners Chapel International. In my free time, I enjoy watching movies with my wife who is also a scientist.
08/2021-Till date, Adjunct Professor in Public Health Program, Stetson University, DeLand, Florida
Laboratory Rotations in the following units: Clinical Chemistry, Hematology, Blood Transfusion Science, Histopathology, and Medical Microbiology
December 2022 (expected)Ph.D. Candidate ToxicologyUNMC, College of Public Health, Omaha, NE2017MPH, BiostatisticsUNMC, College of Public Health, Omaha, NE2012BMLS, Medical Laboratory Science River State University
