A name has been made for Nigeria to ascertain nicely outfitted biomedical research centres, present sustainable authorities funding and strengthen collaboration amongst scientists to develop safer, simpler 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 outfitted 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 ought 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 moderately than function in separate research cycles.
He defined that collaboration among the many completely different disciplines would speed up the interpretation of laboratory discoveries into medical purposes, making certain that scientific improvements tackle sufferers’ needs and enhance healthcare outcomes.
Reflecting on the connection between completely 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 assist the event of safer and extra reasonably priced remedies.
Otuechere additionally burdened the significance of moral accountability and continued scientific investigation, noting that research findings should set up not solely what heals but additionally how remedies work, who advantages from them and the situations below which they could trigger hurt.
He expressed hope that the following era 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 combination of nature, nanomedicine and quantitative evaluation may strengthen toxicology’s contribution to healthcare.
