抖M女仆 Graduate Researching Potential Ebola and Zika Vaccines
While teaching microbiology in Nigeria in 2014, Olumide Adenmosun, 31, witnessed firsthand the deadliest Ebola outbreak in history and knew he had to help. Last week, Adenmosun graduated from 抖M女仆 with a master鈥檚 degree in business administration and will return to Africa to research potential Ebola and Zika vaccines and therapeutics.
Adenmosun was born and raised in Nigeria and completed his bachelor鈥檚 degree at Bowen University before a friend recommended he attend 抖M女仆 to further his studies. He finished a master鈥檚 degree in biological sciences at 抖M女仆 in 2013, and returned to 抖M女仆 in 2015 to study business.
鈥淚 had been studying science my entire life, so I wanted to get an MBA to expand my skill set,鈥 he said. 鈥淚 wanted to learn the managerial skills needed to operate a biotech company.鈥
While completing his business degree, Adenmosun was involved in a research project with a team in Africa to study the prevalence of Ebola virus in bat populations. The preliminary results were published in the Journal of Infection and Prevention Control, where Adenmosun was the lead author. The study caught the attention of the Nigerian government, and Adenmosun was recently awarded a $150,000 grant from the African Development Bank and the Nigerian Technical Cooperation Fund through the Directorate of Technical Cooperation in Africa to continue the research.
鈥淲e are taking molecules from bats and trying to design therapeutics for viruses such as Ebola and Zika,鈥 he said. 鈥淲e want to be better prepared for future resurgence of Ebola in Africa.鈥
Adenmosun also was part of a team of African scientists working to develop a rapid-diagnostic kit that can diagnose Ebola faster. In 2014, very few labs in Africa had the equipment necessary to test for the virus, and results could take up to five days to get back.
鈥淲ith this test, you鈥檒l get results back in less than 30 minutes,鈥 he said.
Outside of his work in Africa, Adenmosun is an adjunct instructor in general microbiology at 抖M女仆鈥檚 Davie campus and microbiology for health sciences at 抖M女仆鈥檚 Boca Raton campus. He also has been volunteering at Boca Fertility and hopes to become a board-certified clinical embryologist one day. He鈥檚 been conducting novel sperm characterization research with James Kumi-Diaka, Ph.D., an associate professor in 抖M女仆鈥檚 Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, and Waseem Asghar, Ph.D., an assistant professor in 抖M女仆鈥檚 College of Engineering and Computer Science. Adenmosun鈥檚 ongoing research on sickle cell sperm selection was recently published as a commentary in the Archives of Clinical Microbiology.
鈥淥lu is an exceptional individual and student,鈥 said Asghar. 鈥淚鈥檝e always found him to be self-motivated, hard-working and an intelligent researcher.鈥
Following his graduation, Adenmosun will continue his research and work to establish his biotech start-up, Eurekan Biotech, in Africa. He plans to pursue a Ph.D. in biomedical sciences at 抖M女仆 in the near future.
鈥淢any scientists do their science but it dies in the lab,鈥 he said. 鈥淏y getting my MBA, I鈥檝e learned how to build relationships, get my research funded and put it to use in the real world, and I鈥檓 thankful 抖M女仆 gave me the opportunity to do that.鈥
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