Deputy Director General

NIMR Director-General, Prof. Babatunde Lawal Salako approved the appointment of Prof. Olaoluwa Pheabian Akinwale as the representative of Research Fellows in the Management committee.

Sequel to winning the election conducted by the Academic Staff Union of Research Institutions (ASURI-NIMR), Prof. Olaoluwa Pheabian Akinwale emerged as the in-house Deputy Director General and will serve for a single term of three (3) years with effect from 3rd March, 2021.

Professor Olaoluwa Pheabian Akinwale, a Parasitologist, is the new in-house Deputy Director-General of the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR) effective from March 3, 2021. Professor Akinwale hails from Atakumosa East Local Government Area of Osun State Nigeria. She earned her PhD in Parasitology from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria,

Nigeria, in 1998 and transferred her service from the Nigerian Institute for Trypanosomiasis Research (NITR), Kaduna to NIMR in the same year. She was Head of Public Health Division (now Public Health and Epidemiology Department) NIMR from 2006 to 2011 and became Director of Research (Neglected Tropical Diseases) in 2013. Professor Akinwale is the Head of Molecular Parasitology Research Laboratory and Leader of the Institute’s Neglected Tropical Diseases Research Group. She is also a member of NIMR Senior Management Committee and Chairperson of many Committees of the Institute.

Professor Akinwale lectures at post-graduate level as a visiting Professor in the following universities: Lead City University, Nigeria; University of Debrecen, Hungary; Universiti Sains Malaysia, Malaysia; and Taipei Medical University, Taiwan. She has supervised and mentored over 11 PhD students. Her research work is very extensive in the area of Schistosomiasis, Onchocerciasis and Buruli ulcer with over 68 research publications, 27 presentations at international conferences, and participation in over 50 international professional trainings and meetings.

Professor Olaoluwa Pheabian Akinwale is a recipient of over 27 training fellowships and travel grants and 17 research/equipment grants. She is a peer reviewer of many national and international scientific journals, and a fellow and member of over 13 international scientific societies and organizations.

Next Generation Sequencing

Automated DNA Library Preparation (MGSSP-100) and Next General Sequencing (NGS) (DSBSEQ-D50) equipment

A group photograph of MGI, Spain Biomedical Engineer: Dr. Pablo, Sanchez Velasco (MD, PhD, EngTc EMEA FAS & FSE) and technical team members of the Central Research Laboratory (CRL( with the Director-General / CEO, NIMR: Professor Babatunde Lawal Salako after successful installation and functional validation of the newly acquired automated DNA Library Preparation (MGSSP-100) and Next General Sequencing (NGS) (DSBSEQ-D50) equipment by the Institute. The Institute HB has now created a Central Sequencing Laboratory for genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 variants in Nigeria.