Nigerian heads new US health institute

By Our Reporter - 26.03.2008

The United States government has announced the establishment of a new Center for Genomics and Health Disparities to be headed by a Nigerian, Dr. Charles Rotimi, Empowered Newswire, a US-based Nigerian news agency, has reported.

The announcement, made last week by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) in a statement, said the centre would be known as the NIH Intramural Center for Genomics and Health Disparities (NICGHD),and would be a “venue for research about the way populations are impacted by diseases, including obesity, diabetes and hypertension.”

NIH is the US government’s major medical research agency with 27 institutes and centers. It is part of the US government’s Department of Health and Human Services, equivalent of Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Health.

Under Rotimi’s leadership the center is also expected to “training opportunities for students and established scientists from developing countries and from minority groups in the United States.

Rotimi, who was described in the announcement as the “internationally renowned genetic epidemiologist” is based in the state of Maryland in the United States, where the new centre is also located.