Chika K. Onwuamah, PhD (Cell Biology and Genetics), is a Chief Research Scientist and the Team Lead, Population Genomics and Cancer Group, Centre for Human Virology and Genomics (CHVG), at the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research.
Since 2001, Dr Onwuamah has worked on helminthic infections, malaria, population genetics, genotoxicity and HIV drug resistance. From 2006-2017, he coordinated quality control and assurance in Nigeria’s first ISO 15189:2012 accredited public laboratory – The Centre for Human Virology and Genomics. He led this Centre from 2017 till January 2020.
From 2008, he was part of several studies genotyping HIV, growing from co-investigator to principal investigator. His current research focuses on HIV drug resistance, genomic predisposition to diseases and developing diagnostics for resource-limited settings. He developed Nigeria’s first indigenous assay for SARS-CoV-2 called SARS-CoV-2 Isothermal Molecular Assay (SIMA). In 2019, he received the Emory-Nigeria RTP short-term fellowship to support HIV drug resistance testing in pregnant women. He is currently a mentor to two recipients of the EN-RTP long-term fellowship. Dr Onwuamah is interested in “OMICS” research to understand host-pathogen-environment inter-relationships to develop sustainable health interventions.
ORCID: 0000-0002-5111-1822