Professor Alash’le Abimiku

Country: Nigeria

Institution: Institute of Human Virology Nigeria (IHVN)

Research Areas: HIV, TB, NCDs

Lab Website: http://ihvnigeria.org

Prof. Abimiku has been pivotal in the success of the Institute of Human Virology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine Baltimore, in Nigeria through and IHV-Nigeria (IHV-N) and in recent years has focused on strengthening translational research in Nigeria in her new role as the Executive Director, International Research Center of Excellence (IRCE). IRCE provides an enabling environment for collaborations and development of young Nigeria scientists for creative thinking and innovation in science to address Nigeria’s and global health priorities. Prof. Abimku’s own funded research is anchored on the development of an ISBER compliant biorepository that processes and stores high quality biological samples to support the conduct of quality research. Her own research continues to be focused on understanding HIV pathogenesis and prevention in naturally occurring diseases models  in Nigeria in three key areas: 1) molecular epidemiology and evolution of subtypes, species, and resistance of HIV and TB; 2) Cohort development including birth cohorts and discordant couples for HIV epidemiological studies, immunology and vaccine studies; and 3) the epidemiology and science of selected virus that are endemic or/and involved in outbreaks such as Lassa and HTLV-1 in collaboration with the Global Virus Network.