Meet Our Awesome Team!

With great dedication and passion, our team is committed in driving the change we want to see.

Esther JIMAH

Senior Research Scientist/ Head of Trainings

Jimah E.M started as a Research Associate and has grown into the capacity of the Business Developer at Helix Biogen Institute. She graduated from Ladoke Akintola University of Technology and the University of Ilorin with a B.Tech in Microbiology and M.Sc. Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, respectively. At present, she is also a Ph.D. student at the University of Ilorin. She has attended various training in Molecular Biology, Genomics, and Bioinformatics. Her research interest focuses on Viral Hepatitis, Viral Hemorrhagic Fever, Arboviruses, RNA viruses, Transfusion Transmissible Infection, Immune Response to Infection, Mother and Child Infection, and Neglected Tropical Diseases. She’s a beneficiary of the Bill and Melinda Foundation Global Health Travel Award.

Mrs. Yetunde SENBADEJO

Senior Research Scientist

Dr. Yetunde lectured at the Fountain University, Oshogbo for a few years. She has worked on projects such as the detection of multi-drug-resistant Pseudomonas species from the aquatic environment, the study of the structure-function relationship of hypothetical proteins and currently working on the impact of antibiotics usage on microbial community diversity in aquaculture and freshwater system using bioinformatics and molecular tools. Aside from doing antimicrobial resistance-related research, she particularly enjoys educating the masses on the severity of antimicrobial resistance and its prevention. She likes to teach bioinformatics introductory courses and also learns by sharing. She graduated from Fountain University, Osogbo with a BSc. in Microbiology, as well as from the University of Ibadan with a Master’s degree in Environmental Microbiology. She has attended several training courses in Microbial genomics.

Elukunbi AWOYELU

Senior Research Scientist

Awoyelu E.H. is a research scientist and doctoral student. Her research is focused on molecular epidemiology, genetic evolution, transmission dynamics of emerging infectious diseases, particularly viruses, and vaccine/drug design. This work is directed toward uncovering how evolution and transmission shape viral genetic diversity. She has also worked on several projects including prevalence studies of human viruses, antibiotic resistance, and drug/vaccine design. Her current project is on the phylodynamics of SARS-CoV-2 in Nigeria with a view to explaining the transmission dynamics of the novel virus in Nigeria. Her love for teaching and impacting lives has moved her to facilitate several hands-on pieces of training on the use of Bioinformatics tools to analyze biological data. Asides from research, she enjoys participating in Girl-Child education, sensitization, and training in the fight against HIV/AIDS in rural communities in Nigeria. Elukunbi had her Master’s degree at the Ladoke Akintola University, Ogbomoso in Microbiology, and a BSc. in Microbiology from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife.

Boluwatife IREWOLEDE

Research Assistant I

Boluwatife Ayobami Irewolede is a Research Assistant with extensive expertise in Microbiology. Prior to joining Helix Biogen Institute, he worked as a research intern at the National Food and Drugs Administrative and Control (NAFDAC) where he collaborated with supervisors to conduct appropriate laboratory analysis on drugs, vaccines, biologicals, and medical test kits to ensure their compliance with standard specifications designated and approved by the council for safe consumption of the public. Due to his intrinsic drive to enhance the healthcare delivery system by bringing solutions to the numerous challenges confronting it, he partook in the groundbreaking research and development of the COVID-19 candidate vaccine conducted at the Institute. His responsibilities include conducting laboratory studies and collaborating with members of the team to write scientific reports. He also conducts bioinformatics and genomic research in the field of biomedical sciences, and is responsible for managing, analyzing, and interpreting the genomic data generated from the study. He earned a B. Tech in Pure and Applied Biology from Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (Microbiology).

Glory OLUWASANYA

Human Resources

Glory is a  graduate of Adeleke University, Ede.  She studied Microbiology. During her undergraduate degree program, she had her industrial training at LAUTECH (now UNIOSUN) College of Health Sciences, Isale Osun, where she worked in molecular biology and the general microbiology laboratory. Glory started out as a graduate intern at Helix Biogen Institute, after having insight into the technological aspect of Bioscience by virtue of the training she had received and some valuable skills in the field of Molecular Biology and genomics, she decided to return as a National Youth Service Corps member. While dedicating herself and deploying her capacity as the Institute’s secretary, she avails herself of the resource of knowledge at her disposal in Helix Biogen Institute to enable her to remain grounded in her desired specialized field.

Nwodo Sandra

Media and Communication

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Dr. Abosede Y. AFOLABI

Communication and Awareness

Dr. Abosede Yetunde Afolabi is a dynamic and versatile Research Scientist volunteering with Helix Biogen Institute since inception. She coordinates the awareness programs at the Institute. She is versatile in HIV research, care and treatment for more than fifteen years. She is a Medical Microbiologist with keen interest in clinical virology.

OLADIPO Abayomi A.

Research Assistant

OLADIPO ABAYOMI A. is a seasoned medical laboratory scientist registered with Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria. He graduated from Ladoke Akintola University of Technology with Bachelor of Medical Laboratory Science (BMLS) in Haematology and Blood Group specialty.
Presently he is working in Haematology Department of Obafemi Awolowo university teaching hospital complex Ile Ife, Osun State, Nigeria. He is also a volunteer Research Assistant at Helix Biogen Institute
His research interest focuses on, Viral Hemorrhagic Fever, Transfusion Transmissible Infection, Mother and Child Infection, and Neglected Tropical Diseases. His passion for impacting knowledge made him to be part of training that involves Medical Laboratory scientist and medical laboratory technician.
He has also worked on several projects including prevalence studies of human viruses, and drug/vaccine designs, he has also attended various training in Molecular Biology, Genomics, and Bioinformatics.

Prof. Kola Oloke

Chief Scientific Advisor/Coordinator

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