IHAB Staff

Ndidi Agala is responsible for overseeing the implementation of routine procedures in the bio-repository in accordance with stipulated guidelines. She maintains the repository’s database, utilizes the knowledge of program activities to suggest areas of improvement for the laboratory and provides mentoring to staff. Mrs. Agala was trained at the University of Nigeria.

Mr. Jonathan serves as the QA/QC support officer and lead person for clinical sites activity ensuring that samples are processed and quality controlled according to stipulated standards and procedures. Mr. Jonathan supports the review of the Quality Control (QC) strategies, processes and protocols for improvements and contributes to the validation of all new QC methods before implementation. He reports QCs results and flags samples not meeting established standards to the I-HAB Supervisor and Manager. He provides support on laboratory consumables, training and mentoring to clinical sites. Mr. Jonathan was trained at the Universities of Surrey and Kingston.

Olasinbo Balogun is responsible for receiving, processing, aliquoting, and archival of samples. As Safety Officer he ensures that staff are trained in safety guidelines and implementation. He monitors adherence to safety policies and Standard Operating Procedures through bi-annual and ad-hoc meetings with the Supervisor, Manager and/or Director on safety concerns and violations. Mr Balogun has over 10 years wealth of experience in clinical laboratory research and Biorepository management haven worked as a Repository Manager with a CDC-funded Nigerian Sero-conversion Panel Project in Abuja. Mr. Balogun was trained at Lagos State and Abuja Universities.

Kareemah Suleiman serves as the liaison officer for all PEPFAR activities and inventory. She is a backup staff for DNA extraction/Quality Control (QC) and Freezerworks LIMS. Mrs. Suleiman maintains inventory of the unit's supplies and equipment and contributes to the development and testing of new protocols. She has a wealth of experience in DNA Extraction, QC, Antibody Antigen testing, HLA and HPA testing and Next Generation Sequencing haven worked as a Healthcare Scientist at NHS Blood and Transplant Colindale, UK. Mrs. Suleiman was trained at the University of Wolverhampton and Kings College London.

Dr. Onyemata serves as the External Quality Control Officer at the Institute of Human Virology Nigeria H3Africa Biorepository (I-HAB). In this capacity, Dr. Onyemata oversees the extraction and determination of quality and quantity of biomolecules (DNA). His role within I-HAB will expand to include the extraction and quality control of other biomolecules such as RNA and proteins, under the guidance of the Principal Investigator, Professor Abimiku. Dr. Onyemata also provides molecular biology support for I-HAB operations in a variety of areas including targeted staff training. Dr. Onyemata contributes to review of the Quality Control (QC) strategies, processes and protocols for improvements as well as the validation of all QC methods prior to implementation.

Dr. Onyemata works in IHVN as a Senior Program Officer, Laboratory Services, and has a wealth of experience with sequencing of HIV strain of clients' suspected to be failing therapy to understand the basis for drug resistance, susceptibility and for sub-typing. Dr. Onyemata was trained at the Universities of Nigeria, Cape Town and the Western Cape.

Oyebimpe Balogun is the head of the Quality Improvement Unit, Clinical Laboratory services Department of the Institute of Human Virology Nigeria. She supports the H3 Africa project in implementation of Quality Management Systems. Mrs. Balogun has contributed immensely to the current paradigm shift in laboratory quality improvement in Nigeria and other African countries. She is a certified laboratory Mentor, Auditor and a Master trainer for Strengthening Laboratory Management towards Accreditation.

As unit head, she designs, implements and monitors quality assurance programs (Internal and External quality Control, External quality Assessment, Proficiency Testing and continuous quality Improvement) across different tiers of laboratories. She ensures compliance to Quality Management System and requirement of regulatory and accrediting bodies in IHAB. Mrs. Balogun was trained at University College Hospital Ibadan and Imo State University Owerri.

Augustine Nzurumike is the head of the Equipment Maintenance Unit, Clinical Laboratory services Department of the Institute of Human Virology Nigeria. He supports the H3 Africa project in all equipment related issues. He is responsible for the installation, operator training, calibration, certification, validation and maintenance of clinical laboratory equipment and appliances to ensure quality and proper equipment management in I-HAB.

As unit head, he coordinates training in this area as well as maintain records and service logs of equipment making sure that all equipment are running well. He coordinates the equipment maintenance, working with all IHAB core staff and the Principal Investigator. Mr. Nzurumike was trained at the University of Nigeria.

Sunji Ibrahim Nadoma is an Information Technology Officer with the Institute of Human Virology, Nigeria and the Bioinformatics lead at Institute of Human Virology H3Africa Biorespository (I-HAB), under the guidance of Dr. Alash’le Abimiku.

Mr. Nadoma has a background in Microsoft Server Administration and Business computing support and has attended a number of NIH funded Bioinformatics trainings. Mr. Nadoma has continued to develop skills in the field of Bioinformatics with special interest in the analysis, management and archival of Next Generation Sequencing data and Bio-python programming. Mr. Nadoma was trained the University of Jos and NIIT Zaria.