Dr. Akinola Saheed Adekunle

Dr. Saheed Adekunle, Akinola is a lecturer in the Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Rwanda. He has a Ph.D. in Biology (Microbial biotechnology) from North-West University (South Africa), an M.Sc. in Microbiology with distinction from Obafemi Awolowo University (Nigeria), and a B.Sc. in Microbiology from Olabisi Onabanjo University (Nigeria). During his Ph.D. study, he was awarded the prestigious North-West University fellowship award for 3 years. During his Ph.D. program, he explored the pharmaceutical and agricultural relevance of soil microorganisms using metagenomics-next generation sequencing approach. Saheed is relevant using molecular techniques especially second generation sequencing (multi’omics) and bioinformatics approaches to explore genomic expression and functionality of microorganisms and other human pathogens. Saheed won the North-West University, Institutional and Faculty bursary, South Africa (2019-2021) (Grant No: 33391912) and also currently serving as a Co-Investigator on Pfizer Quality Improvement Grant RFP – Accord for a Healthier World: Antimicrobial Resistance Testing & Stewardship to improve Hospitalized Patients’ Health Outcome – Pfizer Global Health Inc. (USA) – Project Number: 89814477. Proposal Topic – Capacity Building on Implementation of Antimicrobial Stewardship (AMS) Program and AMR Surveillance at University Teaching Hospital Butare (CHUB) – (Awarded: November 2023). He has published more than 63 articles in ISI and Scopus indexed journals. Currently, Saheed is investigating the molecular mechanisms and resistome transfer between human and pathogens within the environment (One Health) using meta’omic approaches. He is also exploring bioactive compounds of thermophilic fungi to curb the menace posed by MDR/superbugs.