Dr. Adefunke Esther Ogunkanbi
Dr. Adefunke Esther Ogunkanbi is a President’s Doctoral Scholar in the Immunology Research Group, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, University of Manchester, United Kingdom. Her research is with a view to investigating how parasitic helminths modulate host immune responses to enhance survival in the host. She graduated with First Class Honours in Zoology at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria in 2010. She proceeded on her postgraduate degree in Zoology in the same university after a little stint in the banking industry with Stanbic IBTC Headquarters in the year 2011.
She finished her Master of Science degree which is a research-based thesis with a specialization in Parasitology in 2014. Adefunke’s passion for research motivated her to proceed to the University of Manchester, UK to study for a Ph.D. degree in Medicine in 2016. As a lecturer and a scientist, she is passionate about transferring knowledge and skills to upcoming talents in both formal and non-formal educational settings. As a person, she derives joy in impacting lives through teaching and motivating upcoming scientists.
She is devoted to undertaking different volunteering activities. Locally, she facilitated several speeches in some selected secondary schools in Lagos state towards the attainment of the national Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) between 2010-2011. She served her country through the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in Lagos State in the year 2010. She contributed to the national development leading her team to promote the importance of education among youth in both formal and informal gatherings. At an international level, she is touching and molding lives through outreaches among primary and secondary school students in the United Kingdom by teaching them basic laboratory techniques, motivate and stimulate their interest in science.
She is a beneficiary of a number of awards and grants which includes, Bishop Mike Okonkwo Excellence Award 2011, the President’s Doctoral Scholar award 2016, British Society for Immunology (BSI) Miltenyi travel award 2017, European Federation of Immunology societies and the European Journal of Immunology (EFIS-EJI) travel grant 2018, The American Society of Parasitologists (ASP) Marc Dresden Student Travel Grant, Rochester, Minnesota meeting, 2019S he won a Meritorious Student Paper Award in July 2019 for her research at the American Society of Parasitologists (ASP) Conference, USA and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Global Health Travel Award 2019. Adefunke is an academic staff in the Department of Zoology, Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria. She is happily married.