Prof. Joseph O. Nwankwo

WORK INFORMATION

BIOGRAPHY (EDUCATION/PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE/PROFESSIONAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS)

Brief Biography: Joseph O. Nwankwo is a Professor and pioneering Head of the Department of Medical Biochemistry, Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences. He has a background in Molecular Biochemistry as applicable to Cancer Research. He obtained his first degree in Biochemistry from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria in 1977. After his appointment as a Graduate Assistant at University of Sokoto in 1978, he fortunately underwent an accelerated postgraduate programme from 1979 to 1982, skipping the M Sc, to obtain his doctorate degree from Oxford University, England in 1982. He has at various times taught, Nucleic Acids, Molecular Oncology, Pharmacological Biochemistry, and Genetic Engineering at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels at Sokoto University (1982 – 1985); University of Ibadan (1985 – 1996); Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike (2010 – 2013), and Ebonyi State University (2013 – 2014), in Nigeria.

In between these appointments and sometimes concurrently, he has received several international research fellowships beginning with a British Council Fellowship, tenable at Oxford University (1985); an International Cancer Research Technology Transfer Fellowship tenable at the International Agency for Research on Cancer (I.A.R.C.), Lyons, France (1986); a World Health Organization (WHO) Cancer Research Fellowship tenable at the Kenneth Norris Cancer Centre, University of S. California, Los Angeles, USA (1989 – 1990), further extended by the host institution for two more years (1990 – 1992); a National Institute of Health (N.I.H., USA) Grant (NHLBI Number HL 49264: 2000 – 2002); and a N.I.H (Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award) Fellowship: 2002 – 2004; to study transcriptional regulation of the human FADS2 gene, both tenable at the Biochemistry Department, University of Iowa, Iowa State, USA. He was also an Associate Scientist in Surgical Oncology, University of Wisconsin Medical School and the Comprehensive Cancer Center, Madison, Wisconsin (2005 – 2008). His penultimate appointment was as a Professor of Biochemistry and Director, The Centre for Molecular Biosciences and Biotechnology at the Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike (2010 – 2013), before his current appointment at our Alex Ekwueme Federal University, Ndufu-Alike, Ikwo.

He has published widely in his area of research expertise and in such international journals as: “Anticancer Research”, “European Journal of Cancer Prevention”, “Oral Oncology”, “Advances in Cancer Prevention”, etc. He is sole author of a book titled: “Potential anticancer and antiviral agents from West African phytochemicals”, UNN Press; 193 pages. ISBN: 978-978-53040-4-6 (July, 2011). He was a member of the American Association for Cancer Research (from 1990); American Association for the Advancement of Science (from 2002); The Nigerian Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (from 1987); and The Science Association of Nigeria: Life Member (Council Member: 1984-1988). He holds a US joint patent for the phospholipid ether analog NM404, which radiolabel (I*-NM404), is a novel tumor-selective, diagnostic imaging and therapeutic agent for human cancers (United States Patent # 07632644, Celectar, December, 2009). External Examiner for Ph D theses at the University of Ibadan, 2012 and 2014. External Examiner for the 2nd MBBS Exams at the University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus, 2015, 2016 and 2018. External Assessor for Professorial promotion, Ebonyi State University, 2011, etc.

ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS

RESEARCH INTERESTS

MEMBERSHIP OF PROFESSIONAL BODIES

Selected publications (WITH LINKS WHERE AVAILABLE)

COLLABORATIONS/AFFILIATIONS

GRANTS AND FELLOWSHIPS