Director of Research and Strategic Partnerships
Bowen University

Biography of Professor Oduola Abiola, Ph.D.

Oduola Abiola, a Medical Laboratory Scientist and Professor of Chemical Pathology and Molecular Neuroscience was at the beginning of the 2019/2020 Session appointed Bowen’s Director of Research and Strategic Partnerships. After a BSc. degree in Clinical Biochemistry from Sussex and MSc in Chemical Pathology from College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Oduola moved to the Institute of Psychiatry (IOP), now Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN), King’s College, London to commence his studies for a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree in Neuroscience in January 1990. His Ph.D. research investigated the regulation of gene expression by female sex steroid hormones in model systems relevant to psychotic illnesses. The work reported novel findings that contributed to the understanding of the molecular bases of psychiatry illnesses especially postpartum psychiatric disorders. On the completion of his Ph.D. at this ‘elitist’ Institution which had been in the forefront of research into neuropsychiatry disorders for over a century and houses the World’s first Psychiatric Hospital, the Bethlehem Royal, he obtained several Medical Research Council (MRC, UK) Postdoctoral Research Fellowships and continued his residency in the Department of Neuroscience at the IOP, King’s College London, studying: Host genetic factors in transmission and pathology of transmissible encephalopathies; Early disease progression and identification of molecular markers of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathies’ (BSE) pathogenesis; Characterisation of host genetic factors in oral transmission of BSE; Neuropathological analysis of Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies; and, Enzymatic degradation of prion protein. Thus, he is a leading expert in Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies such as BSE in cattle, scrapie in sheep and goat and Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease and its variant (vCJD) in humans. In 2006, Oduola was appointed as Senior Lecturer (Neuroscience) at the Institute of Medicine, University of Brunei Darussalam, the Sultanate of Brunei Darussalam’s Premier University where he played a leading role in laying the foundation for the development of Biomedical Research as well as setting up the Bachelor of Health Science (Biomedical Science) degree which has become incredibly successful and is widely subscribed within the South East Asia sub-region and beyond. In the course of his academic career, Oduola Abiola has to his credit several years’ experience of teaching medical and health professional students from all the continents of the world at both undergraduate and graduate levels and supervised the students’ projects of over 200 undergraduate and 17 postgraduate students including four Ph.D. candidates across Biomedical Science disciplines. Professor Abiola has published about ninety full original research papers, conference abstracts, monograms and cases for Problem Based Learning across Biomedical Science disciplines in leading international journals including the Nature Stable and the Public Library of Science (PLOS). He is a reviewer for several international scientific journals and sits on the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Psychology and Neuroscience. Oduola Abiola is widely travelled and has presented several academic papers at professional, scientific and pedagogy meetings in Canada, China, Germany, Greece, Indonesia, Ireland, Japan, Malaysia, Nigeria, Singapore, United Kingdom and the United States of America. He is a Key Opinion Leader for BD, a leading American Global Company dealing in Medical, Pharmaceutics and Diagnostics. Professor Abiola is a recipient of the prestigious National Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists of Nigeria (AMLSN) Award for Excellence: (2016); Some of his other awards are Award of Honour for Loyal and Dedicated Service to Humanity and Biochemistry of the National Association of Biochemistry Students’ Bowen University Chapter: (2016/2017); Appreciation Award as Guest Lecturer on Maiden Induction Ceremony of the Department of Medical Laboratory Science, College of Medicine, University of Lagos: (2016); Best Scientific Poster Award: Prion 2009, (World Prion Conference) Thessaloniki, Greece. Oduola is a member of several academic and professional associations which include the American Association for Clinical Chemistry, Asia Pacific Association for Institutional Research, Asia Pacific Association for International Education, British Society for Neuroendocrinology, Complex Trait Consortium, Endocrinology Society, Genetics Society, Higher Education Academy UK, Institute of Biology (UK), Institute of Biomedical Science (UK), Royal Microscopic Society (UK), Schizophrenia Research Forum, Union of Risk Management for Preventive Medicine. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Biomedical Science UK, Fellow of the Royal Microscopic Society (UK) as well as Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (UK). He has been a Global Resource Person for the profession of Medical Laboratory Science for several years. Until recently, Oduola was a Visiting Professor to his alma mater the IoPPN, King’s College, London whose former Head of School of Biomedical Science, Professor Roger Morris described Oduola as an ‘exceptional alumnus’. Professor Abiola is Coordinator for the B.MLS Programme as well as Manager, Bowen University Central Laboratory.