Meet Kano-born Scientist Who Made History After Becoming First Nigerian to Win £969,680 Wellcome Trust Award for Malaria Research
Meet Kano-born Scientist Who Made History After Becoming First Nigerian to Win £969,680 Wellcome Trust Award for Malaria Research
UmarFarouk123 
A Kano-born Nigerian scientist made history in 2022 after becoming the first Nigerian to receive the prestigious Wellcome Trust Career Development Award, worth £969,680, for research investigating how climate change affects malaria-transmitting mosquitoes.
Dr Sulaiman Sadi Ibrahim, a Professor of Biochemistry at Bayero University, Kano, was awarded the eight-year research grant to investigate how malaria mosquitoes adapt to rising temperatures and how those changes could affect the effectiveness of insecticide-based malaria control.
His research focuses on the molecular mechanisms that allow African malaria vectors to survive higher temperatures and develop resistance to insecticides, including those used in treated mosquito nets and indoor spraying.
The project involves collaboration with researchers at the Centre for Research in Infectious Diseases in Cameroon and the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine in the UK, while supporting research and training in Nigeria.
The award built on Ibrahim’s earlier international research experience. Between 2017 and 2019, he was a Wellcome Trust International Training Fellow, researching malaria transmission and insecticide resistance across the Sudano-Sahelian region. His work involved studies in Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger and Chad.
That earlier fellowship also helped him establish a molecular biology laboratory and insectary at Bayero University, Kano, creating research and training opportunities for students and scientists.
Today, Ibrahim continues to work on malaria, disease vectors, insecticide resistance and climate-driven infectious disease dynamics, while leading research capacity-building efforts in Northern Nigeria. His current research centre in Kano is also developing facilities for tropical and infectious disease research.
His £969,680 Wellcome Trust award remains one of the notable international research achievements by a Northern Nigerian scientist, linking research in Kano with global efforts to understand and reduce the malaria burden.
