Associate Professor, Drosophila Laboratory, Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, NIGERIA
Rescue Action of Selected Natural Products in Chemicals- and Genetic-Induced Drosophila melanogaster Models of Parkinson’s Disease: An ICGEB-Funded Project
Host: E. Buratti
Dr Amos Olalekan Abolaji obtained B.Sc., M.Sc. and PhD degrees in Biochemistry from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife (1998), University of Lagos, Lagos (2003) and University of Calabar, Calabar (2010) Nigeria, respectively. He commenced his academic career in 2007 in the Department of Biochemistry, College of Science and Technology, Covenant University, Ota Ogun State, Nigeria. He joined the Department of Biochemistry, (Molecular Drug Metabolism and Toxicology Unit), Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan in 2011 as lecturer 1. He is currently a Reader/Associate Professor at the University of Ibadan.
Abstract
Dr Abolaji’s research focuses on the mechanisms by which certain environmental toxins predispose to diseases such as neurodegenerative diseases and cancer using rodents and Drosophila melanogaster as model organisms. Accordingly, the focus of his research is to proactively detect health risks associated with these toxins and decode the mechanisms of pathogenesis. These would aid in the design of concepts for prevention and possible therapy. Dr Abolaji has published seventy-one (71) papers in different peer-reviewed Scopus-cited international journals.
In 2019, he established the Drosophila Research and Training Centre (DRTC, https://drosophilartc.org) as a non- profit, organization to facilitate the use of Drosophila as a cost-effective, alternative animal model for research and training in sub–Saharan Africa. At DRTC, he has facilitated outreaches to undergraduate students from various institutions, 17 Secondary and two Primary Schools in Nigeria to stimulate their interest in biomedical research. The DRTC has also trained researchers from different Nigerian institutions on the use of Drosophila as a model organism for the study of human diseases.
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