Keynote Speakers
To learn more about the research of our keynote speakers click on their name and we take you to their ResearchGate profiles
Distinguished Scientist
Executive Director
Professor Ashok Pandey an erudite and Distinguished Professor of Microbiology and Biotechnology.
Professor Ashok Pandey is currently Distinguished Scientist at the Centre for innovation and Translational Research CSIR-Indian Institute of Toxicology Research, Lucknow, India and Executive Director (Honorary) at the Centre for Energy and Environmental Sustainability-India. Formally, he was Eminent Scientist at the Centre of Innovation and Applied Bioprocessing, Mohali and Chief Scientist and Head of Biotechnology Division and Center for Biofuels at CSIR’s National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology, Trivandrum. His major research and technological development interest are industrial and environmental Biotechnology and energy biosciences, focusing on biomass to biofuels and chemicals, waste to wealth and energy, industrial enzymes etc Professor Pandey is Adjunct/ Visiting Professor/ Scientist in Universities in France, Brazil, Canada, China, South Africa, Switzerland and also in several universities several in India, He has published over 1350 publications/communications, which include 16 patents, 83 books, 700 papers and book chapters etc with h index of 94 and over 40000 citation according to goggle scholar. He has transferred several technologies top industries and has done industrial consultancy for about dozen projects for Indian/International industries. Professor Pandey is a recipient of many national and international awards and honors, which include Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea (2019), Highest Cited Researcher (Top 1% among 4000 in the world; top 10 in India), Clarivate Analytics, Web of science (2018);Life-Time Achievement Award from the Biotech Research Society, India (2018); Life-Time Achievement Award from Venus International Research Awards (2018); Most Outstanding Researcher Awards from Careers360 (2018); Life-Time Achievement of Science and Arts, Germany (2015); Honorary Doctorate degree from Universite Blaise Pascal, France (2007); Thomson Scientific India Citation Laureate Award, USA (2006);UNESCO Professor (2000);Raman Fellowship Award, CSIR(1995);GBF, Germany and CNRS, France Fellowships (1992) and Young Scientist Awards (1989),etc.
Head of the Genetic Resources Center, IITA (Ibadan)
Michael Abberton is Head of the Genetic Resources Center, IITA, Ibadan, since August 2012. He obtained his B.Sc. in Botany and Ph.D. in plant cytogenetics from the University of Manchester and subsequently undertook postdoctoral research in molecular biology at the University of St. Andrews. Following two years working on coffee germplasm improvement in Malawi he joined the Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research (IGER), Aberystwyth, UK. in 1993. For a number of years he carried out research and breeding in forage legumes and became Head of the Plant Genetics and Breeding Department at IGER. Following merger with Aberystwyth University in 2008 [creating the Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences (IBERS)] he became Professor of Public Good Plant Breeding and Director of International Development.d succeed.
Distinguished Scientist
Professor of Eminence
Prof. Ajit Varma is currently the Group Dy. Vice Chancellor and a Distinguished Scientist & Professor of Eminence, Amity Institute of Microbial Technology (Amity University Uttar Pradesh) & Vice Chairman, Amity Science, Technology & Innovation Foundation, Amity Campus, Sector 125, Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India. He was a visiting professor to many University such as Technical University, Graz (Austria), University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen (Germany) , Friedrich Schiller University, Jena (Germany), Philipps University, Marburg (Germany), Technical University, Muenchen (Germany), Kingstan, Jamaica, Max Planck Visiting Professorship (Germany), Zhejiang University, Hangzhou (China), Helmholtz Zentrum, Muenchen (Germany),Gutenberg University, Mainz (Germany), CSIC, Madrid (Spain), University of Dundee (Scotland), University of Ljubljana (Slovenia), ICGEB (Italy), Adjunct Professor, National Mandela University of Science & Tech (Tanzania).He has received notable awards from several notable scientific bodies such as Commonwealth Fellowship (Australia), National Research Council (Canada), Alexander von-Humboldt Foundation (Germany), National Science Foundation (USA), Indo-Czechoslovakia Exchange Programme (Prague), DAAD Fellowship (Germany), Deutsches BMFT Programme, George-August University, Gottingen (Germany), RAISA Fellowship for Innovative Research in Biotechnology (Italy), Swiss Federal Research Fellowship (Switzerland), BP Koirala award (Nepal), DFG-INSA Fellowship (Indo-Germany), FAMI Award 2011 (India), Honorary Diploma, UMF, Cluj-Napoca, Romania (2011), Life time achievement award, Bombay University (2011), Special felicitation for outstanding research in the field of microbiology, JNU (2012), Life time achievement award, Amravati University Maharashtra, presented by Former President, Dr. Pratibha Patil (2018). He has suscesfull supervised over 120 Ph.D students and one D.Sc student. He has published over 450 research articles, which appeared in National and International, journals of repute and also several major review articles and chapters in books, published 99 books in the area of Microbial Technology, published by Academic Press, London, CRC Press, Florida, USA, IDRC, Canada and Springer-Verlag, Germany, Nominated as Editor-in-Chief by Springer-Verlag (Germany & New York), the leading science-publishing house, to prepare 100 volumes on Soil Biology, Nominated as Editor-in-Chief by IK Internationals to make series of books on Microbial and Biotechnological Research, Academic Editor - ‘International Journal of Plant & Soil Science.
It is envisaged that this conference would not only provide a unique platform to the participants from industries and academic institutions to share their thoughts and views to pave the way to develop possible linkages among them, but also serve the purpose of global networking among them and help in creating a nucleus of interface research.
President of the Nigerian Society of Microbiology
Professor Mohammed Bello Yerima, an Applied Environmental Microbiologist graduated from the prestigious Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto-Nigeria where he obtained a Bachelor of Science Degree in Microbiology in 1994. He also obtained M.Sc. and Ph.D. Degrees in Applied Microbiology (Bioremediation) from the University of Jos, NIGERIA. He is involved in Research and Teaching Microbiology for 24 years now at University level. Now he is with newly established Federal University Dutse-NIGERIA. He has published over fifty peer reviewed articles in both foreign and local journals. He also has to his credit close to sixty Conference/Workshop papers which he had presented both locally and internationally. His area of research interest is Environmental Microbiology/Biotechnology (Bioremediation) and Algal Biomass Utilization. Yerima is the Immediate Past President of Biotechnology Society of Nigeria and the current President, Nigerian Society for Microbiology. He is a Fellow of Nigerian Society for Microbiology and member of academic Societies home and abroad. He is also a member of the prestigious BIT Life Sciences, China and recognized as one of the Nigerian experts on Biotechnology.
Professor of the University of Ibadan
Ebenezer Olatunde Farombi is a Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Toxicology, Fellow Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC) United Kingdom, Fellow Nigerian Academy of Science (FAS), Fellow Academy of Toxicological Sciences (ATS) USA and Fellow African Academy of Sciences (FAAS). He graduated as the overall best student at the BSc and MSc levels in Biochemistry from the University of Ibadan. He holds Ph.D Degree in Biochemistry from the same University. He was Postdoctoral Fellow at the Department of Biochemistry, University of Liverpool, UK and visiting scientist at the Institute of Food Safety and Toxicology, Copenhagen, as well as Institute of Environmental and Occupational Medicine, University of Aarhus, Denmark. A former Dean, Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Ibadan, he is currently the Chair of Department of Biochemistry and Director Molecular Drug Metabolism and Toxicology Research Laboratories in the same University and he currently serves as Vice-President of the Society for Free Radical Research (SFRR)-Africa. He is the Foundation Chairman of the Editorial board of the Archives of Basic and Applied Medicine (ABAM), the official journal of the Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Ibadan. He is currently a member of governing council and the Public Affairs Secretary of the Nigeria Academy of Science.
Professor Farombi’s research areas over the past 25 years have been on Molecular Toxicology, Cellular Oxidative Stress Mechanisms, Reproductive and Environmental Toxicology, Antioxidant Redox Biochemistry, Nutraceuticals as Prophylactic agents and Nutrigenomics as well as natural product Biotechnology. He is known nationally and internationally for his novel works on the elucidation of the Biochemical and Molecular Mechanisms of Chemoprevention of phytochemicals. His recent scientific reports have opened up new therapeutic window in influenza virus disease and progressive neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s disease. Worthy of note his scientific impact globally has been recognized. For instance in 2005, he was cited and listed among top 10 productive researchers in University of Ibadan who contributed research articles within a 10 year frame (1995-June 2005)- (SESRTCIC, http://sesrtcic.org/statisticstate) and ten years later, following the inaugural February 2015 Webometric Ranking of Nigerian scientists, he was Top-rated (Ranked Number 1 Nigerian Scientist) according to google scholar citations now with H-index of 48, i10-index of 157 and 9,246 citations.
He has been Visiting Professor to Seoul National University, South Korea (2005-2006); Institute of Nutrition, Friedrich-Schiller University of Jena, Germany (2007), University of Chicago, USA (2010-2011), Jackson State University, USA (2009-date) Cape Peninsular University of Technology, Cape Town, South Africa (2011), Indiana University, Bloomington, USA (2014), China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing China (2015) and Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta USA (2019).
He is a recipient of several International Fellowships and Grants including: UNESCO/MCBN (1998); IUBMB (1998, 2003); WHO/TDR (1998) Fellowships; Danish Research Council Grant (2002); Lady Bank-Anthony Cancer Research Grant (2004), Seoul National University, Korea Visiting Professorship Grant (2005), the MacArthur Foundation Grant for Multidisciplinary Team Research on Chemoprevention (2009), and 2012 IUTOX Fellowship for the 8th Congress of Toxicology in Developing Countries, Bangkok, Thailand. Professor Farombi is the Recipient and Winner of the 2014 Society of Toxicology SOT (USA) Global Senior Scholar Exchange Toxicology Fellowship. He is a recent recipient of the 2015 Institution Based Research (IBR) and National Research Foundation (NRF) TETFUND Grants. He was a Collaborator in the 1 Million USD MacArthur Foundation funded project that led to the establishment of the Centre for Drug Discovery, Development and Production (CDDDP) in University of Ibadan.
A very effective, productive and innovative researcher, supervisor, mentor and a University teacher of 30 years, he has supervised over 100 BSc, 150 MSc and 27 PhD students in Biochemistry and Toxicology. He is the supervisor of the adjudged best PhD Thesis in the discipline of Basic Medical Sciences withing the Nigeria University system during 2009 assessment by NUC. More recently, he has supervised the best PhD Thesis in the University of Ibadan (2018). Four of his former postgraduate students are now full Professor in various Universities in the country. Professor Farombi has recently edited a book titled “Nutritional Antioxidants in Cancer and Degenerative Diseases” with contributors from Nigeria, Cameroon, USA, Mauritius, South Africa, Japan and Denmark.
He was honored with the Outstanding Research Award for Commitment and Outstanding Contributions to Research and Innovation in the University of Ibadan in 2016 and featured in the University of Ibadan Role of Honor of Researchers with highest Research output in 2017. He has published 250 scientific articles in reputable international journals, 18 chapters in books, and given over 100 invited lectures in countries spanning 4 continents of the world.
He is married to Dr. Temitope Farombi a Consultant Neurologist at the Geriatrics Centre, University College Hospital, Ibadan and they are blessed with children.
Lecturer at the Obafemi Awolowo University
Dr. Kayode Sanusi, Ph.D., MNYA, is a lecturer in the Department of Chemistry, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria. He holds a Bachelor and Master of Science degrees from the same University in 2005 and 2011 respectively. In 2015, Dr. Sanusi bagged his Ph. D. from Rhodes University, South Africa, having completed a thesis on the development of phthalocyanine and its nanomaterial conjugates for optical limiting application. He also holds a certificate in basic laser safety course in 2013 from CSIR, South Africa. His current research interests include design, synthesis and application of photoactive molecules as: electrocatalysts for hydrogen production from formate, potential two-photon absorbers in photonics and optoelectronics, and as photosensitizers in dye-sensitized solar cells. He is a computational chemistry expert as well. He is a three-time recipient of the African Laser Centre (ALC) graduate scholarship award (2012 -2014) and has won a fellowship of the Royal Society, UK in 2017. He was a finalist at the 2019 Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR)/Azrieli Global Scholars Program. He is a member of the Nigerian Young Academy (NYA) and Chemical Society of Nigeria (CSN) from 2016 to date.
Associate Professor at the University of Ibadan
Dr Adelowo is an Associate Professor at the University of Ibadan. His work is focused on microbiology.
He has worked for numerous international prestigious institutions, including:
· University of Ibadan: Ibadan, Oyo, NG
· Helmholtz-Zentrum für Umweltforschung UFZ
· Technical University of Dresden
· Ladoke Akintola University of Technology
· Technical University of Denmark
· Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
His work has been cited 300+ times.
Professor of Information Technology
Dr. Wilson Nwankwo is an astute multidisciplinary professional with over 15 years professional/industrial experience cutting across Computing, Information Technology, System Engineering, Risk management, Healthcare, Portfolio management, Project Finance and Governance, Project management, Budgeting, etc. He has an indefeasible passion towards leading innovative projects/researches geared at transforming enterprise and organizational process chains through consistent and careful res Research interests My research interests are: Informatics, Data Mining, Intelligent systems, Software Engineering, Cloud Computing, Cybersecurity, Embedded Systems, and Information Systems (Business & Health Informatics).
Head of IT Management at the President M. Buhari-World Class Cancer Centre in Lagos
Mr Abayomi Ipadeola, had 1st Class BSC and 1st Class MSC Graduate of Computer Science. Finished from Unilorin in 2005, had the opportunity to work in a mobile telecommunication firm where school knowledge proved very useful, and he furthered through RSA Scholarships to study intensely the practical side of computing.
He had his Masters in Zululand RSA with industrial experience in South African countries. He is married and blessed with a boy and a girl. Written IT publications and innovated cutting edge technologies in the area of Data, medicine, telecommunications, eMoney, etc.
Currently, he work as Head IT Management at the President M. Buhari-WorldClass Cancer Centre in Lagos. the NSIA-LUTH Cancer Treatment Centre and a whole lot of cancer treatment procedures are planned, executed with remarkable results. It’s been a loud ovation at the centre.