Unilorin don wins research grant on heart burn, as VC, Ambali tasks Varsity’s researchers to pick Nobel Prize

An Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH), Dr. A. O. Olokoba, and a team of scholars across Departments of Medicine from Nigerian University Teaching Hospitals and Federal Medical Centres have been awarded the Astra Zeneca Research Grant which is worth about N5,000,000 to advance research in the studies of Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD, otherwise called heart burn).

Following the submission of their winning proposal entitled “Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease in Nigeria: A Population-Based Study”, Dr. Olokoba, explained that the research is necessary because the prevalence of GERD in Africa is not clearly known and the continent is conspicuously missing in the global map of GERD, yet the burden of the disease is believed to be significant because it is known to affect  between 10- 20% of the population in western countries.

Explaining more on the disease, Olokoba, who is also the Chief Medical Director of the Kwara State General Hospital, Ilorin, described GERD as the clinical condition that develops when gastric contents find their way into the oesophagus thus causing troublesome symptoms such as heartburn and regurgitation or complications such as Barrett’s esophagus and esophageal adenocarcinoma that could require surgical intervention.

…Work towards winning the Nobel Prize, VC tells Unilorin researchers

In the meantime, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, Prof. AbdulGaniyu Ambali (OON), has charged researchers in the University to conduct researches that are capable of winning the Nobel Prize, assuring them that the University will continue to provide them with world-class facilities and equipment to conduct groundbreaking researches.

Prof. Ambali gave the charge last Tuesday (January 10, 2017), while addressing participants at the opening ceremony of the Second Laboratory Protocols Workshop organised by the Central Research Laboratory, University of Ilorin.

Speaking through the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research, Technology and Innovation), Prof. Gabriel Olatunji, the Vice-Chancellor said, “We want all researchers to come on board and use the facilities we have provided to test their brilliant ideas.

Prof. Ambali told the workshop participants that the University has made available research equipment that will make their work globally acceptable, saying that they should strive to produce research work that could compete for the prestigious Nobel Prize, as he assured them of the continuous support of the University.

He explained that it is idea that leads to innovative research that impacts the society while commending the Director of the Central Research Laboratory, Prof. (Mrs.) Temidayo Oladiji, for the excellent way in which the laboratory has been managed.

In her opening address, the Director, Central Research Laboratory (CRL), Prof. Mrs. Oladiji, thanked the Vice-Chancellor for approving the bi-monthly workshop in order to create awareness on the available facilities in the CRL.

She said that the second edition focuses on the application of the Flow Cytometry in Biological Sciences research, noting that the machine that most of the facilities in the CRL are not available in any other university in Nigeria.

Prof. (Mrs.) Oladiji stressed that the workshop is not to generate revenue for the University but an avenue to expose researchers in the University to some of the latest equipment the University has procured for the purpose of research in the institution.

The Workshop Speaker, Dr. M. O. Amali, in his lecture, explained the use of the Cytometry device, its applications, analysis of Flow Cytometry data and took them through a practical demonstration of the operation of the device.

The Centre’s Deputy Director, Dr. Baba Alafara was also at the workshop to conduct the programme.