…Seeks Collaboration with Japanese Varsities
The Africa Centre of Excellence in Neglected Tropical Diseases and Forensic Biotechnology (ACENTDFB), Ahmadu
Bello University, Zaria, has signed new Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with two research institutes in Ghana,
in order to boost its collaborative research activities.
A three-man ACENTDFB team, comprising the Deputy Centre Leader, Prof. Y.K.E. Ibrahim and two principal
investigators, Prof. I.S. Ndams and Prof. M.N. Shuaibu, visited Ghana, September, 2017, to establish collaborations
with the two institutes which the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR), College of Health
Sciences, University of Ghana, Legon; and the Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research in Tropical Medicine
(KCCR), College of Health Sciences, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi.
Areas of cooperation with NMIMR include organisation and hosting of workshops and conferences, student internship
placements and research activities as well as other activities that would facilitate advancement in the understanding,
prevention, control and treatment of neglected tropical diseases, particularly those relating to lymphatic filariasis,
trypanosomiasis and rabies.
At KCCR, the areas of cooperation are student internship and provision of bench space for short-term research works,
particularly in the area of lymphatic filariasis.
The ACENTDFB team also visited the West African Centre for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens (WACCBIP),
University of Ghana, to explore areas of collaborations and exchange ideas on best practices.
In a related development, a member of the ACENTDFB team, Prof. Mohammed Nasir Shuaibu was also in Japan,
where he held fruitful discussions with officials of the School of Tropical Medicine and Global Health as well as the
Institute of Tropical Medicine (NEKKEN), both at the Nagasaki University, Japan The areas of cooperation would
include faculty exchange, provision of bench space for research works (Short Research Visit), joint research work and
grant sourcing.
ACENTDFB Builds Capacity, Supports Research Activities
The Africa Centre of Excellence in Neglected Tropical Diseases and Forensic Biotechnology (ACENTDFB) has
sponsored six members of its teaching and supervision staff to attend and present scientific papers on the Centre’s
research activities at various international conferences. Two were in South Africa and one, each, in Germany, Georgia,
Switzerland and the United States of America. Dr. Gloria Chechet also attended one-month skill acquisition training in
Germany, while the Centre Accountant, Procurement Officer and Auditor attended Accrual IPSAS and IT Workshop
in the United Arab Emirates, to enhance their professional knowledge and skills.
Three Gambian students of the Centre were sponsored for six-week sample collection in their country. They have
since returned and are making substantial progress in their bench works. Twelve other students were also sponsored to
attend the pre-conference training workshop and conference of the Biotechnology Society of Nigeria, held at the
Federal University of Technology, Minna.
In another development, ACENTDFB, in collaboration with one of its partners, the Nigerian Institute for Medical
Research (NIMR), Yaba, Lagos, organised a ‘Species specific Diagnosis’ training workshop on using molecular
diagnostic tools for the diagnosis of trypanosomes in blood samples. Twenty-One participants, who were mostly
Parasitologists, drawn from various parts of Nigeria, attended the hands-on training programme. These included five
students of ACENTDFB, who were sponsored by the Centre.
A 10-day Rabies Advocacy Campaign and Training Workshop was also organised by the Centre, in conjunction with
the Centre of Excellence on Epidemiology, MacArthur Foundation, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. The workshop,
which attracted no fewer than 100 participants, featured the vaccination of dogs and epidemiological monitoring of
samples for effectiveness of previously-administered vaccines.
