UNIMED Professor Honored with Prestigious Malaria Research Award
Professor Olumide Ogundahunsi of the University of Medical Sciences (UNIMED) in Ondo State has been awarded the prestigious 'Ogobara Doumbo Multilateral Initiative Malaria (MIM) Award for Lifetime Achievements in Malaria Research and Capacity Building.'
Chris Oyeoku Okafor 
Professor Olumide Ogundahunsi, a distinguished Pharmacology expert and Director of Strategy and Programme Management at the University of Medical Sciences (UNIMED), Ondo State, has been awarded the ‘Ogobara Doumbo Multilateral Initiative Malaria (MIM) Award for Lifetime Achievements in Malaria Research and Capacity Building.’ This esteemed recognition was presented during the 8th MIM Pan African Malaria Conference held in Kigali, Rwanda.
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The award, named in honor of the renowned researcher Ogobara Doumbo, celebrates Prof. Ogundahunsi’s exceptional contributions to malaria research and his commitment to capacity building in malariology. Prof. Wilfred Mbacham, Executive Director of MIM, highlighted Ogundahunsi’s pivotal role in training numerous scholars worldwide, thereby advancing the global fight against malaria.
“In receiving this award, we encourage you to continue to provide strategic directives on how to mobilize at the grassroots by investing, innovating, and integrating such efforts to end malaria,” stated Prof. Mbacham.
Expressing his gratitude, Prof. Ogundahunsi remarked, “There is no greater honor than recognition by one’s peers, and it is particularly remarkable and humbling to receive this award alongside some of my teachers and very senior malaria researchers.”
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The award honors the legacy of Ogobara Doumbo (1956–2018), a Malian-born researcher renowned for his contributions to parasitology, immunology, medical anthropology, and biostatistics. Doumbo co-created the Bamako Malaria Research and Training Centre, a pivotal institution in training health professionals and collaborating with village health systems.
Temitope Oluwatayo, Assistant Registrar Public Relations Unit at UNIMED, noted that Prof. Ogundahunsi's career spans over three decades in teaching and international scientific research. He has worked with institutions in more than 40 countries across Africa, Asia, Europe, North and South America, and Southeast Asia. From May 2000 to July 2020, he served as a scientist with the World Health Organization’s Tropical Diseases Programme in Geneva.
Throughout his career, Ogundahunsi has led numerous initiatives to strengthen research capacity in low- and middle-income countries. His efforts include establishing postgraduate and postdoctoral training programs with universities across Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and South America, significantly enhancing global research capabilities in malariology.
