Seventeen early career scientists selected to attend the 2020 Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings

Seventeen early career African scientists nominated by the African Academy of Sciences (AAS) have been selected to attend the prestigious Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings in 2020. The meetings are the 70th Meeting of Nobel Laureates (Interdisciplinary) and the 7th Lindau Meeting on Economic Sciences.  
 
The Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings take place every year alternating between physiology and medicine; physics and chemistry – the three natural science Nobel Prize disciplines. An interdisciplinary meeting takes place every five years. In addition, the Lindau Meeting on Economic Sciences is held every three years. They provide a forum for the nominees to engage with their peers from different disciplines across the globe and Nobel Laureates about current developments and future challenges in their field. As an official partner of the Lindau Foundation since 2015, the AAS is invited to nominate young scientists every year and thereafter funds the successful nominees. 
 
Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, the 70th and 7th meetings have been postponed to 27 June to 2 July 2021 and 24 to 28 August 2021 respectively. To keep up the momentum however, the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings has organised Online Science Days 2020 for the participants from 28 June to 1 July 2020. 
 
These meetings will give the young scientists ample opportunities to interact with other participants, among them, 36 Nobel Laureates attending this year’s programme. The activities will include innovative formats enabling nominees to share their work with the community, to collaborate online and to discuss science. Furthermore, this year’s programme will allow the nominees to connect with the Lindau Alumni.  
 
The AAS Nominees will join another 1034 outstanding undergraduates, doctoral and postdoctoral students under the age of 35 from 107 countries all selected for their emerging excellence in science.  
 
The 70th Meeting of Nobel Laureates (Interdisciplinary) 

Lillian Tugume from Uganda at Makerere University in Uganda

Tugume is a graduate student in the School of Medicine at the College of Health Sciences, Makerere University in Uganda and holds a position as a masters’ scholar at the Infectious Diseases Institute, Makerere University. She has been involved in clinical research of central nervous system infections and complications, with a focus on HIV associated Cryptococcal Meningitis and Tuberculous Meningitis. Dr. Tugume has contributed to clinical trials focusing on improving the clinical outcomes of HIV-infected persons with cryptococcal meningitis and Tuberculous meningitis as a research clinician. These include; a clinical trial investigating the role of adjunctive Sertraline for treatment of cryptococcal meningitis (completed in 2017), another investigating the role of high dose rifampicin in treatment of tuberculous meningitis (ongoing) and lastly, a trial on optimizing cryptococcal meningitis induction therapy with Ambisome (also ongoing). As a result of her involvement in clinical research, coupled with mentorship from Dr. David Meya of Makerere University and Dr. David Boulware of the university of Minnesota, Lillian has developed interest in improving clinical outcomes through research. In particular, she is interested in improving outcomes of Advanced HIV Disease, a significant contributor to HIV associated mortality in sub Saharan Africa. Currently, she is pursuing a master of medicine in Internal Medicine, expected to complete in May 2022. Her masters research will focus on describing the population admitted with advanced HIV disease at Uganda’s National Referral Hospital in order to develop targeted interventions to this unique population. 

Caroline Kijogi from Kenya at the Mount Kenya University in Kenya 

Kijogi is a postdoctoral research fellow at Mount Kenya University, Thika, Kenya. Her research interests lie in the realm of infectious disease science, in particular understanding disease immunopathogenesis. Sub-Saharan Africa has for the longest time borne the brunt of the burden of infectious diseases, on the whole causing debilitating effects on vulnerable populations. Eradication is tenable as evidenced by the successful elimination of small pox through vaccine discovery. Riding on this wave, she hopes that deepening her understanding of infectious disease pathogenesis will broaden her view to facilitate incorporation and exploration a new research ideas.

She completed her doctorate in Medical Science (Infection Research) in 2018 and obtained a Master’s degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences (Molecular Pharmacology) in 2013, both from Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, Japan. She also holds a Bachelor of Science (Biochemistry) degree from Kenyatta University, Nairobi, Kenya. Caroline was recently awarded an EDCTP (European & Developing Countries Clinical Trial Partnership) grant funding for which her project on the role macrophages in placental malaria pathogenesis focuses on. Her aspirations include developing a career as an independent researcher and fostering long term capacity in research for human health in Africa through conducting high quality research and forging collaborations with other like-minded scientists.

Joseph Tchamgoue from Cameroon at the University of Yaoundé 1 in Cameroon 

Dr Tchamgoue is a young researcher at the Department of Chemistry, Higher Teacher Training College-University of Yaounde 1, Cameroon. His research focuses on the isolation, characterization, and quantification of lead bioactive compounds from Cameroonian medicinal plants as well as the formulation of herbal based drugs. He obtained a PhD in organic chemistry from the University of Yaounde 1 and is a fellow of the YaBiNaPA, TWAS-ICCBS and AGNES Junior Researcher Grants. He has taken part in various trainings at the University of Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), University of Technology Malaysia, University of Karachi (Pakistan) and University of Helsinki (Finland). So far, Dr Tchamgoue has presented his research outcomes at several international conferences and has co-authored peer-reviewed research articles. He earned a prize from the Falling Walls Lab. Cameroon for his research work on insulin secretory natural substances from a Cameroonian medicinal plant. 

Besides his research work, Dr Tchamgoue is the founder of the start-up Africa Chemistry Development which deals with the production of environmental-friendly anti-mosquito candles from the essential oils of medicinal plants and, he is an active member of the Artemisia Scientific Steering Group.

Ella Kasanga from Ghana at the University of North Texas Health Science Center in the U.S.A 

Kasanga is a fourth-year doctoral candidate in the Department of Pharmacology & Neuroscience at the University of North Texas Health Science Center in Fort Worth. Her area of study focuses on identifying and understanding how motor impairment occurs in both aging and Parkinson’s disease as well as identifying interventions, both pharmacological and non-pharmacological, which may reduce the rate of locomotor dysfunction. With the expected exponential increase in the aging population by the year 2030, the incidence of impaired movement initiation is also expected to rise with its associated consequences. Thus, Ms. Kasanga’s passion for research to determine what measures can be put in place to ensure that the elderly population live a healthy, long life.

Ms. Kasanga is a registered Ghanaian Pharmacist and a member of the Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana. She completed her undergraduate degree in Pharmacy with First Class Honors and a Master’s degree in Pharmacology at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Ghana. Her Master’s thesis focused on evaluating the anti-nociceptive effects of a medicinal plant using rodent models.

In her current role, Ella has presented her research work in several conferences and has received several international awards, among them the Society for Neuroscience Trainee Professional Development Award in 2017 and 2019 and the 2019 Sigma Xi Graduate Division Awards for Poster Presentation (Physiology & Immunology). As a graduate student, she has taken up leadership roles in student organizations and volunteered on institutional committees including the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee and the Sustainability Committee. Ms. Kasanga has also volunteered in community outreach events such as Punching Out Parkinson’s, a local exercise program aimed at improving the quality of life of Parkinson’s disease patients in Fort Worth, highlighting her desire to serve her community wherever she finds herself.

Kwadwo Asare Owusu from Ghana at the Wuhan University of Technology in China 

Owusu is a Ph.D. researcher in Prof. Liqiang Mai’s group at the Wuhan University of Technology, China. Prior to pursuing postgraduate studies in China, he received a BSc Materials Engineering degree from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana in 2012 and worked there for a year as a Teaching Assistant. His research interests focus on the synthesis and characterization of porous carbon/transition metal oxide nanostructured materials for high energy density aqueous supercapacitors. The supercapacitor is an energy storage device characterized by fast uptake and release of energy; however, its energy density is several orders of magnitude lower than that of conventional lithium-ion batteries. He has adopted a mass-scalable and facile synthetic approach to develop novel supercapacitor electrodes with enhanced physical/electrochemical properties such as large surface area, excellent conductivity and robust morphology, which are highly desirable for enhancing the energy density of aqueous supercapacitors. Notably, Kwadwo successfully synthesized low-crystalline iron oxide hydroxide (FeOOH) nanoparticle anode with excellent electrochemical performance at both low and high mass loading levels. The FeOOH material also far-outperformed porous carbon materials, making it a potential replacement for the latter in asymmetric supercapacitors. His recent work on electrochemical energy storage device focuses on integrated carbon/pseudocapacitive materials for multivalent-ion (Zn, Al, and Ca) hybrid supercapacitors.

Kwadwo has contributed to more than 25 peer-reviewed publications with a citation count of 1250, 3 Chinese patents (filed or issued) and given oral/poster presentations at both local and international conferences. In addition, He has received a number of meritorious scholarships and awards including the MTN Ghana Foundation Scholarship, Chinese Government Scholarships and WUT Excellence Award. Kwadwo’s mid-term career goal is to go into academia and to establish an online training hub for nurturing intelligent but less-fortunate Ghanaian students in in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).   

Beatrice Nassanga from Uganda at the MRC/UVRI and LSHTM Uganda Research Unit

Nassanga’s career goal is to become a renowned and instrumental African scientist in the field of Immunology and Vaccinology, performing research towards the control of infectious diseases including Tuberculosis (TB). She is a first year PhD student of Makerere University. Her PhD project focusses on investigating host and microbial factors that interfere with the development of potentially protective immune responses to TB vaccines. These include the currently licensed BCG vaccine and ChAdOx1 85A – MVA85A, a candidate. This PhD project comes at a critical time where the world is grappling with the deadly TB pandemic and an effective vaccine is required.

She has an MSc in Immunology and Clinical Microbiology, from Makerere University, degree conferred in January 2019. She passed with a distinction. Her MSc studies were fully sponsored by MUII-plus, following a successful interview. For her MSc project, Beatrice investigated T cell responses in Ugandan mothers, sensitised, or not sensitised, to Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) and Non-tuberculous Mycobacteria (NTM) using the recently identified NTM-specific T cell epitopes.

Beatrice attained her bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Laboratory Technology at Makerere University in 2014. For her undergraduate research project, she assessed measles immunisation among children between two and five years of age, in the fishing communities along the shores of Lake Victoria, Entebbe, Uganda. Following completion of her undergraduate degree, she was employed at MRC/UVRI and LSHTM Uganda Research Unit. She participated in a number of TB vaccine projects as a laboratory technologist from 2014 to 2016.

In addition to her scientific career progression, she contributed significantly to the establishment of a curriculum of expert lectures from the University of Cambridge, a program sponsored by MUII-Plus and set up to support the Makerere University MSc course in Immunology and Clinical Microbiology, by complementing the research aspects of the course.

 
Rawlance Ndejjo from Uganda at the Makerere University in Uganda 

Ndejjo is a Research Associate in the Department of Disease Control and Environmental Health at Makerere University School of Public Health where he participates in teaching and supervision of students, research and community service. He is currently undertaking his PhD in Medical Sciences at the University of Antwerp (Belgium) evaluating a community approach for cardiovascular disease prevention in a rural and semi-urban community in Uganda. Rawlance has an MSc in Environmental Health from the University of the West of England (UK) undertaken through a Commonwealth Scholarship and a Bachelor of Environmental Health Science degree from Makerere University funded through a Uganda government scholarship, exceling as best student in both instances. Indeed, he was awarded the Environmental Health faculty prize at the University of the West of England for his “high level of academic achievement and positive contribution to faculty activities” and received similar recognition at Makerere University following his undergraduate degree. Rawlance holds a Level 3 Award in Leadership and Management from the International Leadership and Management Institute in London (UK) and has undertaken several short course trainings and fellowships. His research interests include community health, non-communicable diseases and environmental health, and has published over 27 peer-reviewed journal articles, presented at several local and international conferences and reviewed manuscripts for several journals. Rawlance was part of the team that spearheaded the first International Symposium on Community Health Workers held in Kampala, Uganda in February 2017 where he chaired the Scientific Committee. He later undertook a similar role for the 3rd International Federation of Environmental Health Academic and 16th Makerere University Environmental Health Science Students’ Association Conference in April 2019 in Kampala, Uganda. He has won research and travel grants, conference presentation awards and obtained the Green Capital Change Maker Award in 2015 from Bristol city (UK) for contribution to social, economic and environmental sustainability.

Neneh Sallah from Gambia at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in the UK

Dr Sallah is a Gambian scientist and Research fellow in Genomics and Global Health at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical medicine where her research focuses on understanding the influence of genetics on disease to be able to develop better diagnostics for infection and improve of patient management. Her research career began at Medical Research Council in 2006 investigating diseases of public health concern including Tuberculosis and diarrhoeal diseases, through which she was awarded a scholarship to pursue a BSc. degree in Microbiology at the University of Manchester, UK in 2008. She then completed her PhD in Genomics at University of Cambridge in 2016 after being awarded a highly competitive studentship by the Wellcome Sanger institute.  Neneh lectures on master’s level courses in Epidemiology and Genomics at London school and leads capacity development efforts in bioinformatics in south-east Asia and Africa. She is also a review editor of the journal, Frontiers, ensuring that only high-quality research is published. Owing to a drive for making a social impact,  she is an advocate for STEM and co-founded “Health Science 4 Gambia” through which she organised the first Gambian-led Scientific symposium to showcase Gambian scientists and the value of pursuing careers in STEM to strengthen the research and health sectors of The Gambia. Neneh is also a Director of OXCAMP, an educational not-for-profit that mentors’ talented and less-advantaged African students, particularly girls, to address gaps in educational and gender inequality.  

Doty Ojwach from Kenya at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa 

Ojwach was born in Kenya and obtained her BSc (Hons) degree in Biomedical Science from Maseno University. She then moved to the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa for her MMedSci degree and graduated in 2016. To fulfil her passion for medical research, She enrolled for a PhD degree in Virology under the sponsorship of South African national research, and completed in 2019. Doty is currently a post-doctoral research fellow funded by the Sub-Saharan African Network for TB/HIV Research Excellence (SANTHE), a DELTAS Africa initiative.

Her research currently involves investigating if ongoing virus replication in sanctuary sites in the body during antiretroviral therapy (ART) contributes to virus persistence. ART is not curative due to the establishment of a latent reservoir of cells, which are infected with a replication competent virus that is transcriptionally silent. This dormant virus is not expressed in the cells it infects and therefore cannot be cleared by the immune system as well as being targeted by ART. If there is ongoing virus replication in sanctuary sites, then improving penetration of ART into these sites should be high priority in HIV cure strategies, and if not, a viable cure requires that this latent HIV reservoir is eliminated or permanently contained.

Doty is elated at this prestigious opportunity to attend the international platform of the 70th Meeting of Nobel Laureates (Interdisciplinary), 2020. As an upcoming female researcher, from the African continent, where the burden of infectious disease is greatest, She is confident that her participation in this high profile event would further guide her personal development by enriching her knowledge, confidence and scientific awareness through interaction with leading researchers in the field and Nobel Laureates. “As I write my story, I am motivating and encouraging the upcoming young woman out there; you can do it” says Doty.

Zakaria Ouhaz from Morocco at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom 

Zakaria is a Newton International Postdoctoral Fellow at the Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford. He received his doctorate in Neuroscience from Cadi Ayyad University, Morocco and completed his postdoctoral training in the Lab of Professor Anna Mitchell at the University of Oxford. A Royal Society Newton International Fellowship is supporting Dr Ouhaz studies. The aim of Dr Ouhaz’ research is to understand the functional importance and underlying mechanisms associated with cortico-thalamo-cortical interactions in some of our daily cognitive abilities, e.g. learning new information, memory recall and adaptive decision-making. Dr Ouhaz is particularly interested in the thalamic nuclei of the dorsal thalamus. He uses a combination of research techniques, including behavioural and cognitive neuroscience testing, rodent’s electrophysiology, lesion studies and pharmacogenetics, brain imaging and neuroanatomical tracing studies. He is currently investigating how, and in what ways the interactions between the mediodorsal thalamus and interconnected neural regions (especially cortex) contribute to cognitive functioning using rodents. Dr Ouhaz also studies cognitive abilities in following damage in the dorsal thalamus, e.g. after stroke or schizophrenia.

Athi Welsh from South Africa at the University of Cape Town in South Africa 

Athi was born in Mthatha in the Eastern Cape and matriculated from Holy Cross Education Center in 2013. He completed his BSc in Chemistry and Biochemistry (2016) at the University of Cape Town, with a BSc degree awarded with a distinction in Biochemistry. He carried on to complete his BSc (Hons.) degree and obtained first-class honours in Chemistry at the University of Cape Town, as the top Honours student in his class and was awarded the James Moir medal of the South African Chemical Institute, in 2017. His honours project focused on rhodium-based ferrocenyl bioisosteres of benzimidazoles and their antimalarial activity, under the supervision of Assoc. Prof G. S. Smith and Prof. K. Chibale. A portion of his Honours project formed part of a publication in the European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, titled “Structure-activity relationship studies of antiplasmodial cyclometallated ruthenium(II), rhodium(III) and iridium(III) complexes of 2-phenylbenzimidazoles”. Athi completed his MSc at the University of Cape Town, under the supervision of Assoc. Prof. Gregory S. Smith and Prof. Sharon Prince. His MSc project focused on the synthesis and anticancer evaluation of ruthenium(II)-based 2,5-disubstituted benzimidazole multinuclear complexes. Stemming from this work was a publication in Dalton Transactions titled “Synthesis and antiproliferative activity of benzimidazole-based, trinuclear neutral cyclometallated and cationic, N^N-chelated ruthenium(ii) complexes”. Athi is currently pursuing his PhD in Chemistry. His research focuses on the design and synthesis of polynuclear benzimidazoles hybrid complexes and their applications as potential anticancer agents, with a keen interest in understanding the cellular mechanisms of action of these complexes.

Dacquin Kasumba from the Democratic Republic of Congo at Universite de Montreal in Canada 

Dr Kasumba is a young scientist studying how our body responds to infections. More specifically, he studies how viruses counteract the immune response allowing them to cause diseases. Clarifying these events will help us cure and prevent infectious diseases. He was born in Kinshasa, D.R.Congo in the mid 1980’s where he completed high school before moving to Pretoria to study Biotechnology at University. After obtaining his first degree, he worked for a Biotech company providing molecular biology services and reagents to academic and research institutions throughout Africa. A few years later, he obtained his Master’s degree in Pharmacology at Tshwane University of Technology (Pretoria) where he had also been teaching Biotechnology classes. He then moved to Kyoto in Japan for his Ph.D. at Kyoto University to study the immune system and how the body fights off infections. Then, he worked as a postdoctoral research fellow at the Centre Hospitalier de l’Universite de Montreal in Canada.
In January 2020, he returned to D.R.Congo to integrate the Institut Nationale de Recherche Biomedical, Kinshasa. For the next years he will be working on addressing pressing challenges related to infectious diseases caused by pathogens such as Ebola, Measles, Respiratory syncytial virus, Coronaviruses, etc. He is also advocating for the creation of a system to support biomedical research in his country through funding, and to educate local communities about their role in public and global health. Reaching these goals will allow the country to be a safer and healthier place to live in and will allow us to address our challenges in an appropriate, relevant and independent manner. In that optic, he recently founded a non-governmental structure called Afya Foundation destined to spearhead the strategy to achieve the above-mentioned objectives.

Morlu Stevens from Liberia at the Akita University in Japan 

Dr Stevens is a researcher fellow at the Cooperative Research Center, Akita University, Japan. He graduated with an MSc and PhD in Chemistry degrees from Botswana International University of Science and Technology, Botswana. His interests are on developing organometallic as well as organic materials, and valorization of agro-waste remains that can be employed to remove or recover precious metals. Currently his research involves the development and use of adhesive molecularly imprinted synthetic peptides and polypeptides for recovery of precious metals. It is from this work that he has been awarded the best research presenter in international conferences. Regardless of coming from a country that has inadequate resources to conduct research and teach science subjects, he always endeavored to excel in academics and challenged himself to be a great scientist. Dr Stevens has dedicated his time towards STEM activities such as organizing symposium, and creating platforms for young scientists to show case their innovative and creative ideas, as well as contributing to scientific knowledge by publishing more than ten original research papers so far. In addition, he enjoys conducting fun science experiments to young kids in the community in order to demystify ideas that science is difficult. His leadership skills and team-work spirit which he continues to show at every position assigned to him are noteworthy. Dr Stevens is very vibrant and has a positive attitude towards life. When he is not conducting research or writing scholarly publications, he likes travelling with his wife and daughter. He also enjoys teaching English to Japanese kids, playing basketball, hiking and exploring different cultures.

Ahmed Farouk from Egypt at the Wilfrid Laurier University in Canada 

Farouk is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Wilfrid Laurier University and Ryerson University, Canada. He received his M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees from Mansoura University, Egypt. He is one of the Top 20 technical co-founders of the Quantum Machine Learning Program by Creative Destruction Lab at the University of Toronto. Furthermore, he is selected as Top 25 of InnovateTO150 Canada to showcase the best of Toronto’s next generation of change-makers, innovators, and entrepreneurs. He is exceptionally well known for his seminal contributions to theories of Quantum Mechanics, Communication, and Cryptography.  The exceptional quality of his research is recognized nationally and internationally. He awarded many full travel grants to attend prestigious scientific meetings such as one sponsored by IEEE computer society for attending 1st Global Chapter Summit: Engaging with Industry in Italy and other sponsored by Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology for attending ISQA - Information Security in the Quantum Age workshop in Japan.

Also, he has been awarded the Obada-Prize for distinguished scientists under 40 years old, IAAM Young Scientist Medal, best researcher twice from Oman, and honored by the president of Mansoura University for his Ph.D. research. He nominated by the African Academy of Science to attend 69th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting dedicated to Physics and 70th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting (Interdisciplinary) and selected by the scientific review panel of the Council for the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings to participate in the 70th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting. Furthermore, His research achievement “Robust general N user authentication scheme in a centralized quantum communication network via generalized GHZ states” and “Squeezing dynamics of a nanowire system with spin-orbit interaction” are highlighted and featured as a seminal work in the news by Science Trends, pioneering minds, wissenature, and lasciences. He appointed as chair of the IEEE computer chapter for the Waterloo-Kitchener area and editorial board for Nature Scientific Reports, IET Quantum Communication, and IEEE Access.

 
The 7th Lindau Meeting on Economic Sciences 

Chemseddine Tidjani from Algeria at the Research Center in Applied Economics for Development (CREAD) in Algeria 

Tidjani is a Senior Researcher at the Research Centre in Applied Economics for Development (CREAD). As a permanent researcher (full-time), his main research focus in the field of financial and economic studies and he is particularly implemented to work in areas like: microfinance, corporate finance, financial economics, Innovation & ICT economics, and FinTech. Before joining the CREAD, TIDJANI was in charge of financial control in a regional public administration. He holds a PhD degree in business sciences from the University of Kasdi Merbah.
 

Gilles Quentin Kane from Cameroon at the University of Yaounde II in Cameroon 

Kane is assistant lecturer at the Faculty of Economics and Management of the University of Yaoundé II, Cameroon. He holds a PhD in Economics under the Collaborative PhD Programme of the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC). He has won several awards, including the European Investment Bank (EIB) – Global Development Network (GDN) Fellowship in Applied Development Finance (2018-2019), Partnership for Economic Policy PMMA - Microeconomic analysis Research Grant (PMMA-12880) 2015-2017, African Economic Research Consortium (AERC) grant for doctoral studies (2012-2017), Scholarship to pursue MPhil studies from the Inter-University Post-Graduate Program in Economics (NPTCI) from 2008 to 2010, the British American Tobacco (BAT-CEMAC) Grant for Excellence (2005-2007) and the Ministry of Higher Education Grant for Excellence (2007). He is specialized in Agricultural and Development Economics. His research interests include agricultural market and price analysis, food and nutrition security, agricultural values chains impact evaluation, gender and poverty analysis.
 

Oluwabunmi Adejumo from Nigeria at the Obafemi Awolowo University in Nigeria 

Oluwabunmi is a faculty member of the Institute for Entrepreneurship and Development Studies, Obafemi Awolowo University. She is also a Research fellow at the Centre for Economic Policy and Development Research-Covenant University, and an alumnus of the Institute of Housing Studies, Erasmus University. She has a Ph.D from Obafemi Awolowo University with a research focus on labour and development economics; and She is currently a researcher and a lecturer in the same University. She is an active member of the Inter-University Sustainable Development Research Programme (IUSDRP) of Haw Hamburg University, Germany; and  has participated as a sectional editor to the ‘Handbook of Climate Change Resilience’ and an associate editor to the ‘Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, Industry, innovation and Infrastructure’ which are published by Springer. She has served as a reviewer to several journals as well as participated in diverse academic research and developmental project aimed at tackling environmental issues, human capital development and gender equality; as well as scaling up entrepreneurship and vocational skills acquisition for undergraduates at the State level and in the University where she works. She recently co-completed a project funded by the Institute for Development Studies (IDS) on 'Tax Treaties and High Growth Entrepreneurship: Firm-Level Evidence across Developing African Countries. She is also directly involved in Business Development Consultancy Services for companies and corporate organization. She has published articles at the local and international levels, and she has attended several conferences. Her research interest lies in the area of labor issues, sustainable entrepreneurship, sustainable financing, and inclusive growth and sustainable development.