A name has been made for Nigeria to ascertain nicely geared up biomedical research centres, present sustainable authorities funding and strengthen collaboration amongst scientists to develop safer, more practical and reasonably priced healthcare options.
Professor Chiagoziem Otuechere, a Professor of Phytomedicine and Biochemical Toxicology within the Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, Redeemer’s University, Ede, Osun State, made the suggestions on the establishment’s twenty fifth inaugural lecture on Tuesday.
Professor Otuechere additionally referred to as for the institution of two nicely geared up Centres of Excellence in Biomedical Research in every of Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones to strengthen scientific research and innovation throughout the nation.
According to him, “The proposed centres should have state of the art equipment and facilities, with structured, year round access for scientists working across different biomedical disciplines.”
Otuechere additionally advocated a presidential mandate to empower biomedical researchers with confirmed experience, stressing that such an initiative needs to be supported by sustainable funding and clear accountability frameworks.
He stated, “The researchers should be tasked with developing healthcare solutions that draw on indigenous knowledge systems, particularly Nigeria’s rich ethnopharmacological heritage, to produce treatments that are culturally relevant and economically viable.”
The professor urged the promotion of transdisciplinary research, calling on toxicologists, chemists, physicians, microbiologists and different scientists to work collectively quite than function in separate research cycles.
He defined that collaboration among the many totally different disciplines would speed up the interpretation of laboratory discoveries into scientific functions, guaranteeing that scientific improvements handle sufferers’ needs and enhance healthcare outcomes.
Reflecting on the connection between totally different scientific fields, Otuechere stated, “The future of healthcare lies not within a single discipline, but at the intersection of disciplines.
“Nature provides therapeutic molecules, nanotechnology improves their delivery, computational science helps predict their behaviour, while toxicology evaluates their safety.”
He added that the mixed method may help the event of safer and extra reasonably priced remedies.
Otuechere additionally careworn the significance of moral duty and continued scientific investigation, noting that research findings should set up not solely what heals but in addition how remedies work, who advantages from them and the situations below which they could trigger hurt.
He expressed hope that the following technology of toxicologists would construct on current scientific foundations by way of excellence, accountable research and a dedication to bettering human well being, including that the mixing of nature, nanomedicine and quantitative evaluation may strengthen toxicology’s contribution to healthcare.
