Nigerian Alumna Selected for Drug Discovery Fellowship

Dr. Hafsat Shittu, an IFP alumna from Nigeria, has been selected for a one-year WHO TDR fellowship as part of a drug discovery program for neglected diseases. A specialist in diabetes, Dr. Shittu was selected from over 200 applicants from African countries to spend a year training at the National Centre for Drug Screening (NCDS) in Shanghai, China.

From Shanghai, Dr. Shittu writes:
“I am settling in Shanghai which I am told looks like New York because there are lots of people about. It is different from Mansakoko (The Gambia), Glasgow (Scotland) and Abuja (Nigeria) where I have lived across three continents! A common thread runs through all though…humanity is the same, the people are warm and nice even when there is a communication barrier.”

At the NCDS, Dr. Shittu will be trained in various drug discovery techniques, including High Throughput Screening (HTS), a high technology system that allows researchers to rapidly screen compounds to speed up the drug discovery process. The fellowship program is a collaboration between WHO TDR, Novo Nordisk of Denmark and NCDS of China to support the training of postdoctoral scientists from Africa who have an interest in drug discovery.

Born in Nigeria, Dr. Shittu earned her PhD in Pharmaceutical Science from the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow under an IFP fellowship. At Strathclyde, she performed research on Nigerian plants used by traditional healers to treat diabetes patients. Her work resulted in the discovery of an active compound that could be used to reduce blood glucose. Prior to winning the WHO fellowship, Dr. Shittu worked at the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD) in Nigeria.

Read an interview with Dr. Shittu in the Nigerian paper Sunday Trust :
An Interview With Dr. Hafsat Shittu