Nigeria Content Online

The National
Universities Commission (NUC) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding
(MOU) with the Institute for Lasers, Photonics, and Biophotonics
(ILPB), United States of America for the development of an
international joint research centre for nanomedicine in some Nigerian
universities. According to details of the MOU, the first phase of the
initiative is to implement the program at NUC-selected universities
while the second phase will bring Nigerian researchers to train at ILPB
and equipment distributed to Nigerian universities. The MOU postulates
that by this time, there should be “global impact of research with
widespread implementation of quantum dots and other nanoparticles in
the fields of medical diagnosis and treatment.” The third stage, meant
to take place five to 10 years from now, will be defined by major
research focuses, sufficient funding, and effective personnel training
and the centre is expected to become a first-class research center not
only in Nigeria, but in the world.

The NUC appointed
Paras Prasad, a professor of chemistry and medicine with the University
of Buffalo (UB) and the executive director of the ILPB, as the head of
the joint research center.

“The two major
application areas are alternate energy and health care. We are applying
this merge of photonics, of light wave energy, for application in the
area of medicine called nanomedicine. The other, alternative energy
focuses primarily on solar energy harvesting,” he said.

Beneficial science

Folarin Erogbogbo,
leader of the Nigerian group and research assistant professor in cancer
nanotechnology, explained that the primary focus in Nigeria will be on
nanomedicine, which could be applied to disease diagnosis, treatment,
and delivery.

“Over here [at UB],
we’ve done some work that could be beneficial for the early detection
of cancer. However nanomedicine doesn’t end there,” Mr. Erogbogbo said.
“It could be used in other areas like malaria and AIDS research and so
on; obesity issues, as well.” Mr. Erogbogbo, one of the primary
promoters of this collaboration, identified Prasad’s propensity to work
with international researchers and noticed that UB did not have a
strong academic presence in Africa. “The joint research institution
would incite a lot of change in Nigeria… we’re bringing cutting edge
technology to Nigeria,” Mr. Erogbogbo boasted.

Abike Dabiri-Erewa,
the chairperson of the House of Representatives Committee on the
Diaspora, was present to witness the signing of the MOU.

“We look forward to partnering with a world leader like UB that can
help us develop our scientific infrastructure. This is a bold step that
will go a long way toward the NUC’s vision for creating opportunities
in frontier areas of research and technology,” she said.