Crescent Varsity Partners Noblekinmat On Bioinformatics Training
"We're Bridging Gap Between Knowledge And People"--VC
Crescent University Abeokuta, in conjunction with Noblekinmat Limited, has organized a workshop on bioinformatics to train and retrain scientists, lecturers and students in Biochemistry, Microbiology, Physiology, Anatomy, Nursing and Biology.
The workshop scheduled to hold at the College of Health Sciences (COHES) of Crescent University between 15th and 18th February, 2023 had in attendance the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Ibraheem Gbajabiamila and two prominent facilitators namely Dr Sulaimon Lateef and Scholar Akanji Olaniyi representing the College of Natural and Applied Sciences and Department of Physical Sciences, among others.
Bioinformatics is an area of science that offers practical solutions to diseases plaguing Africa such as infectious diseases like Malaria, Tuberculosis, AIDS, Ebola , Lassa fever and others.
In his remarks at the opening session, Prof. Gbajabiamila highlighted the importance of bioinformatics, saying the idea was to address the gap between knowledge and the people as well as to prepare people for eventualities in terms of diseases and epidemics.
The vice chancellor explained that while the European and American countries had planned ahead of epidemic emergencies, African countries, particularly Nigeria, were found wanting when there was a breakout of bird flu, monkey pox, Ebola virus and COVID-19.
He emphasized that it was a duty of care and social responsibility on the part of Crescent University and Noblekinmat to train and retrain scientist professionals while also seeking collaboration with experts.
In his contribution, the facilitator of the programme, Scholar Ashraf Akintola lamented that Nigeria was still lagging behind in the area of bioinformatics as facilities to carry out necessary research were not provided by government and research institutions.
He however said that more than 5,000 people had been trained so far.