UNIJOS ALUMNUS APPOINTED CHAIR OF

AGRICAN SCIENTIST GROUP

Dr. Simon Agwale an alumnus of the University of Jos has been appointed Chairman of the African Group at the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trails Programme (EDCTP).

The programme is a partnership of EU member states and Sub-Saharan African states formed to accelerate the development of new clinical interventions to fight HIV/AIDS, malaria and TB through joint conduct of clinical trials.

Clinical trail is critical to the development of any drug, and especially vaccines, as efforts continue to find a solution to HIV/AIDS pandemic on the sub-continent.

Agwale was appointed at a meeting of stakeholders in Arusha, Tanzania, May, 2006 for an initial two years with possibilities of renewal annually.

Agwale, who specializes in human virology, represents Nigeria and West Africa at EDCTP and is the focal person for the Developing Countries Coordinating Committee (DCCC) a key part of the programme that strengthens policy debate from African experts and countries.

He is the only West African member of the partnership and his appointment stems from his numerous research works at institution in Nigeria, Brazil, Germany, the UK and US.

Agwale, who founded the first biotechnology firm in Nigeria, Innovative Biotech Ltd. Previously worked at the Institute of Human Virology, (IHV) Baltimore US, and Nigerian Institute of Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD), Abuja and also the Department of Zoology, University of Jos.

In a related development Agwale reported at a workshop held in Abuja, Nigeria recently that he and his colleagues have developed an experimental HIV-1 vaccine, tailored specifically to help fight AIDS in Nigeria.

Agwale reported that the research team at the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute (UMBI)’s Institute of Human Virology (IHV) has applied the latest vaccine technology to build a “first generation Nigeria HIV-1 vaccine.”  The vaccine is made up of bits of the specific subtypes of HIV predominating Nigerian infections.

According to Agwale the bits of HIV in the vaccine were identified by the first complete nationwide analysis of blood from HIV positive individuals in all 36 states of Nigeria, conducted in collaboration with the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia.

Agwale is currently a post-doctoral fellow at the laboratory of David Hon, IHV Associate Professor.  “I am in a position to help my nation with its growing AIDS problem.  I have a lot of faith in this approach to developing a vaccine and now we have a plan to put it to use”, he said.

The experimental Nigeria HIV-1 vaccine is now entering preclinical testing in laboratory animals.  IHV has designed the vaccine to be taken orally, thus eliminating the need for maintaining sterile injection needles.  Agwale announced the vaccine during a three-day National Workshop on HIV vaccine plan for Nigeria, sponsored by UNAIDS/WHO.

The candidate Nigerian HIV-1 vaccine is potentially applicable to all of Africa, said Agwale, because the IHV team has also included a piece of DNA from the C clade variation of HIV-1 which is rapidly becoming the predominant subtype of HIV-1 in many African countries.

“This is an example where an individual from a developing country played a lead role in a vaccine development program to solely target a public health crisis in that individual’s country of origin,” commented Hon.  “Dr. Agwale will establish a new model for vaccine development that empowers individual countries to address their specific problems.