SIMINIALAYI IYEOPU MINAKIRI

Brief Biography

Iyeopu Minakiri Siminialayi is a Professor of Endocrine Pharmacology. He was best Graduating Student in Pathology in his 1991 MBBS graduating class at the University of Port Harcourt and won Prof Mabadeje’sPrize for Best Graduating Student in M.Sc. Pharmacology at the University of Lagos. He has an MD from the University of Port Harcourt. Employed by the University of Port Harcourt on July 1, 1994, as Lecturer II in the Department of Pharmacology, he rose to Professor in October 2010. Iyeopu Siminialayi is a respected pharmacologist/endocrinologist who is widely cited for his work on metabolic syndrome, diabetes mellitus and malaria. He has reported that diet even in the absence of obesity is a major determinant of the metabolic syndrome, that low HDL cholesterol is a poor determinant of the condition, that abdominal obesity even with a normal BMI is strongly associated with cardiovascular disease risk in Nigerians and that extracts of marine crabs inhibit the replication and growth of Bordetella pertusis. He has benefitted from Travel Grants from Pfizer, Ugo Basil URL and the University of Port Harcourt, European Union Erasmus+ training mobility and won a TETFund IBR grant for his research on the feasibility and durability of dietary intervention in achieving remission of type 2 diabetes mellitus. He also got a grant as Director of the Centre for Malaria Research and Phytomedicine for malaria eradication and phytomedicine from the Niger Delta Development Commission. He has over 100 published articles, some of which were the result of multi-centre studies and has supervised 19 M.Sc. projects, one of which won third prize at the NUC National research fair held in Abuja in 2012 and 12 Ph.Ds. He has been listed in the Webometrics rankings of top 800 scientists in Nigeria published in 2015 and in the recent ranking of scientists by the AD Scientific Index. He is a former Head of Department, former Dean, former Director of the Centre for Malaria Research and Phytomedicine, former Provost of the College of Health Sciences. As Provost, he revised the curriculum of the MBBS/BDS programmes and instituted the quality assurance of assessments in the College. And as DVC R&D he instituted the annual Innovation Week and helped the University of Port Harcourt move up in the rankings of universities in Nigeria. He is a former member of the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria, the Medical and Dental Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal and a former member of the Board of UPTH. He is the Sylvanus JS Cookey Professor of Malaria Studies and immediate past Deputy Vice Chancellor Research and Development of the University of Port Harcourt. He is a Fellow and life member of the West African Society for Pharmacology, a Nigeria Medical Association Roll of Honour recipient, a Fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Medicine, a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (Edin) and a Distinguished Alumnus of the University of Port Harcourt. He plays table tennis, chess and other board games. He loves music, books and watching football, particularly Arsenal Football Club. He is involved with a number of Community based Organisations and is a philanthropist. He is married with Children.

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