Ifedayo Morayo Adetifa, a Nigerian paediatrician and infectious diseases epidemiologist, is the current Director General[1] of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC). He was appointed[2] to this role in September 2021 by President Muhammadu Buhari[3] to replace Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu[4] who was the head of the agency since August 2016.[5]
Before his appointment as Director-General, he was Clinical Epidemiologist, Epidemiology & Demography Department, KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme (KWTRP), Kilifi, Kenya[6] and an Associate Professor of Infectious Diseases Epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK.[7][8]
Career
editIn 2004, Adetifa advanced to work as a Research Clinician and subsequently as a Clinical Epidemiologist at the Medical Research Council Unit, The Gambia (MRCG), carrying out investigations largely on Tuberculosis Epidemiology and Immuno-epidemiology studies including clinical investigation aimed at expounding the correlates of disease and protection in TB and identifying surrogates of treatment efficacy. During his time there he won the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP) career development fellowship.[9]
In 2009, he was awarded a Master of Science degree in Epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and in 2012 he earned a PhD in Tuberculosis Epidemiology at the University of Amsterdam.[10][11]
In 2014, Adetifa joined the LSHTM and KWTRP following the completion of his fellowship program, there his research focused on the epidemiology of vaccine preventable diseases aims to generate evidence for vaccine policy in developing countries especially of tropical Africa.[12] Adetifa implemented disease and Serological surveillance, examined approaches to monitoring vaccination, conducted vaccine impact studies, performing health economic evaluations, and complemented all these with scientific concept.[13]
Adetifa's current area of work are centered on evaluating the effect of the vaccine against strep pneumoniae introduced in Nigeria in 2015, COVID-19 epidemiology, and other related areas. In 2018, Adetifa received the Medical Research Council and Department for International Development (MRC/DFID) Africa Research Leader Fellowship award to fund his vaccine seroepidemiology research.[14][13][15]
Personal life
editAdetifa was born in the Nigerian state of Lagos. He is married to Uche Adetifa whom he has three kids with.[16]
References
edit- ^ Kozlov, Max (2022-05-27). "Monkeypox outbreaks: 4 key questions researchers have". Nature. 606 (7913): 238–239. Bibcode:2022Natur.606..238K. doi:10.1038/d41586-022-01493-6. PMID 35624160.
- ^ Nwafor (2021-09-07). "Osinbajo chairs Health Sector Reform Committee". Vanguard News. Retrieved 2022-08-23.
- ^ Online, Tribune (2021-09-06). "Buhari appoints Osinbajo to head health sector reform committee, names new NCDC DG". Tribune Online. Retrieved 2022-08-23.
- ^ Onyeji, Ebuka (2021-10-19). "Adetifa officially takes over at NCDC". Premium Times Nigeria. Retrieved 2022-08-22.
- ^ "Buhari appoints Ifedayo Adetifa new NCDC Director-General". Punch Newspapers. 2021-09-07. Retrieved 2022-08-22.
- ^ "Ifedayo Adetifa". LSHTM. Retrieved 2022-08-22.
- ^ "Wetin you need know about Ifedayo Adetifa, NCDC new boss". BBC News Pidgin. Retrieved 2022-08-22.
- ^ Report of the WHO-China Joint Mission on Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) | https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/who-china-joint-mission-on-covid-19-final-report.pdf.
- ^ "Buhari Appoints Adetifa New NCDC DG after Ihekweazu's Exit – THISDAYLIVE". www.thisdaylive.com. Retrieved 2022-09-07.
- ^ "CLOSE-UP: Meet Ifedayo Adetifa, the new NCDC DG 'who cracked a tuberculosis riddle'". TheCable. 2021-09-07. Retrieved 2022-08-22.
- ^ Tosin, Alamu (2021-09-07). "Ifedayo Adetifa Biography, Wiki, Net Worth, Tribe, State, Age, Wife, Facts". NGNews247. Retrieved 2022-09-07.
- ^ "Dr Ifedayo Adetifa". MPRU. Retrieved 2022-09-07.
- ^ a b Eshemokha, Udomoh (2021-09-07). "Profile and Biography of Dr. Ifedayo Adetifa Morayo, New DG of NCDC". Nigerian Health Blog. Retrieved 2022-09-07.
- ^ today, The nigerian news (2021-09-06). "Ifedayo Adetifa Biography : 8 Things You Should Know About the Newly Appointed NCDC DG |Ejes Gist Newspaper". Ejes Gist News Nigeria. Retrieved 2022-09-07.
- ^ "Prof. Ifedayo Adetifa | Kemri | Wellcome Trust". kemri-wellcome.org. Retrieved 2022-09-07.
- ^ Elumoye, Deji (2021-09-07). "Nigeria: Buhari Appoints Adetifa New NCDC DG After Ihekweazu's Exit". allAfrica.com. Retrieved 2022-09-07.