Philosophy
The Department of Pharmaceutical Microbiology and Biotechnology aims to carry out innovative research that feeds back into the education and training of our undergraduates and postgraduate students and translates into new products and policy change.
We are dedicated to providing excellent teaching and research that is responsive to the need of our environment and the world today. We aim to support our most senior staff to continue to remain active in research and encourage our early career researchers to continue to increase the breadth of our research capacity. The programmes in Pharmaceutical Microbiology and Biotechnology are designed to prepare graduates to serve as Pharmaceutical Scientists and Educators, making significant contributions to any chosen Pharmaceutical/Biotechnological career in the Industry, Academics, Research Institutes, Hospitals, and related Federal Ministries. We envision that our students will become pharmaceutical professionals and scientists that ensure the safety and efficacy of pharmaceutical products and services and contribute to solving societal challenges.
Researchers in our department carry out studies in collaboration with colleagues from other departments in the faculty and outside the faculty – medical sciences, health sciences, statistics, biological sciences, social sciences, Igbo language, etc. They also collaborate with the industry, NAFDAC, community/traditional rulers, and clinicians in carrying out certain projects.
Our current research is focused on community challenges. For our research to be viable we support several research groups including the malaria research group, the epidemiology research group, etc. Our portfolio of research includes antimicrobial drug resistance profiling, development of natural products as herbal antimicrobials, identification of potential drug targets, investigation of drug-drug/herb interaction, drug repurposing, and studying virulence factors in bacterial infections and malaria. We support a community of researchers spanning from about 22 graduate Masters and PhD students, postdoctoral research staff, and innovative senior staff and researchers some of whom are early career scientists themselves and are beginning to form some of the independent research groups we house.
Our administrative staff and laboratory staff provide indispensable support for our teaching and research activities.
We harness the power of a positive and inclusive environment by ensuring that all staff is respected irrespective of their ranking, beliefs or gender, and by free communication. In our department, responsibilities are shared, staff achievements are appreciated and opportunities are communicated amongst other communication and monitoring needs.
Core Objectives
1) To ensure safety and efficacy of pharmaceutical products by providing excellent teaching and research that is responsive to the need of our environment and the world today
2) Discovery of antimicrobial drugs against communicable diseases via understanding the underlying principles of pharmaceutical microbiology and human cell mechanisms
3) To impart positively on the healthcare system through various targeted and smart pharmaceuticals