President Bola Tinubu has congratulated Ijeoma Uchegbu, a london-based Nigerian-British Professor of Pharmacy at the University of London who has been announced as the incoming President of Wolfson College of the University of Cambridge.
Wolfson is one of the 31 Colleges that make up the prestigious University of Cambridge,
Professor Uchegbu, is a leading researcher and renowned for her innovative work in nanoparticle drug delivery.
A statement issued on Sunday in Abuja by presidential spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale praised Prof Uchegbu for her “outstanding accomplishment.”
The President commended “Professor Uchegbu for being an excellent ambassador for the country and for her relentless efforts to advance the frontiers of pharmaceutical science.”
President Tinubu said that Uchegbu epitomizes “the ingenuity, brilliance, and hard work that are consistently synonymous with the great Nigerian people both at home and abroad.”
Earlier, the University of Cambridge announced Uchegbu’s new appointment in a statement published on its website, the statement titled: “Wolfson elects Professor Ijeoma Uchegbu as the College’s 7th President,” reads in part:
“We are delighted to announce that Professor Ijeoma Uchegbu, a ground-breaking nanoscientist, has been elected as Wolfson’s seventh President.
“Professor Ijeoma Uchegbu, a Professor of Pharmaceutical Nanoscience known for her ground-breaking work in nanoparticle drug delivery, will become the 7th President of Wolfson. She will succeed the current President, Professor Jane Clarke, on 1 October 2024.
“Professor Uchegbu is currently a Professor of Pharmaceutical Nanoscience at University College London. Her pioneering work on the mechanisms of drug transport has led to the development of new treatments which promise to transform pain relief, including the enkephalin pain medicine candidate (EnveltaÔ), designed to address the opioid crisis
“Her work has won her numerous awards, fellowships and accolades, and she holds positions on several academic boards and councils including the Wellcome Trust, the Academy of Medical Sciences and is an honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry.
“She has also played a leading role during her time at UCL as Pro Vice Provost for Africa and the Middle East, in forging new research partnerships in those regions and as UCL’s Provost’s Envoy for Race Equality, steering the organisation’s race equality agenda.”
Reacting on her new appointment, Uchegbu who earned her first degree in Pharmacy from the University of Benin, Edo State from where she proceeded to the University of Lagos for her Master’s degree, expressed happiness over her elevation.
In a statement she published on her social media page, she said: “I am so thrilled to be joining Wolfson College, an ambitious and forward-thinking College.
“It will be an honour to lead such a lively, diverse and engaged student community in an environment where people are stimulated culturally, socially and intellectually. I look forward to working with the Governing Body, staff and students to help realise their ambitions and potential.”
Aside from earning her Master’s degree from the University of Lagos, Prof Uchegbu also started her doctoral programme in University of Lagos, but later completed in the UK.
