President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the appointment of Dr Ifedayo Morayo Adetifa as the new Director General of Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).
Presidential spokesman Garba Shehu disclosed this in a statement on Monday. Dr Adetifa replaces Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, who is now head of the World Health Organization (WHO) Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence based in Berlin, Germany.
According to a posting on the website of London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Dr Adetifa said “I received my undergraduate medical training at the University of Ilorin, Kwara, Nigeria and completed residency training in Paediatrics at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Idi-Araba, Lagos, Nigeria for which I was awarded the Fellowship of the West Africa College of Physicians in Paediatrics.
“I studied for the MSc in Epidemiology at the School and got my PhD in Epidemiology from the University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
“I joined the School in June 2014 and work overseas as a Clinical Epidemiologist at the KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme,Kilifi, Kenya.
“The overarching aim of my research is to provide evidence for vaccine policy in low-and-middle income countries especially those in Africa.
“My vaccine policy advisory roles include membership of the Kenyan National Immunisation Coordination Committee, the WHO AFRO Regional Immunisation Technical Advisory Group (RITAG), the Advisory Group of the WHO Malaria Vaccine Implementation Programme, and the WHO Technical Advisory Group on RSV vaccines.
“Prior to joining the School, I worked as a Clinical Epidemiologist at the Medical Research Council Unit, The Gambia at the LSHTM. My research interests and work then were in Tuberculosis Epidemiology.”
