Iruka N. Okeke elected a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology

Branco Weiss Alumna Iruka N. Okeke has been elected a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology. The Academy is the honorific leadership group within the American Society for Microbiology (ASM), one of the largest life science societies in the world. The mission of the Academy is to recognize scientists for outstanding contributions to microbiology and provide microbiological expertise in the service of science and the public. Fellows are elected annually through a highly selective, peer-review process based on their records of scientific achievement and original contributions that have advanced microbiology.

Dr. Iruka N. Okeke is professor of pharmaceutical microbiology at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. Her research group uses microbiology, genetic and genomic methods to investigate the mechanisms bacteria use to colonize humans, cause disease and gain drug resistance. She also studies laboratory practice in Africa, and her group contributes to antimicrobial resistance surveillance in Nigeria. Last year, Nature chose Prof. Okeke as one of four experts in emerging economies to give their view on how the problem of drug-resistant infections could be addressed in their regions. And an article in The Lancet (co-authored with Branco Weiss Alumnus Thomas Van Boeckel among others) covering the global scope of the antimicrobial resistance challenge gained much visibility.

Read the news on the ASM website

See Dr. Okeke’s profile on the ASM website

Read the article in Nature

Read the article in The Lancet