UNIMED to receive global award

By Sade Adewale
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The University of Medical Sciences, (UNIMED), Ondo city, has been selected as one of the 13 awardees to receive equipment that will advance scientific research and teaching.

A Molecular and Cellular Parasitologist and Dean of the Faculty of Science at the university, Prof. (Mrs.) Roseangela Nwuba, got the award for pursuing a novel approach in the fight against malaria.

Instead of a vaccine, which would work by triggering an immune response in the person who receives it, Prof. Nwuba and her collaborators want to use antibodies from people who are already immune to help others fight malaria.

The announcement of the 2019 Instrumental Access awardees was made during Seeding Labs’ annual “Positively Instrumental” event held on May 1, 2019, in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, which celebrated the power of global science.

She said that the department of Biological Sciences at UNIMED, was also one of the 13 awardees chosen for Instrumental Access 2019 from a pool of 46 applications received from 22 countries through a rigorous and competitive selection process.

According to her, each applicant outlined the ways that an infusion of modern scientific equipment would remove barriers to research and   education at their institutions paving the way for them to participate as equals in the global community of scientists and to use the power of science to solve problems for their communities.

Nwuba noted that the 2019 Instrumental Access awardees specialize in disciplines from across the biological and chemical sciences, saying their diverse research interests include infectious diseases, personalized

medicine, food safety, biofuels, communication disorders, water quality, herbal medicines, agriculture and textile manufacturing.

She added that instrumental Access makes high-quality laboratory equipment and supplies available to university departments and research institutes in developing countries.

Nwuba hinted that it is the flagship programme of Seeding Labs, a US-based non-profit organization working to empower every scientist to transform the world.