Nigerian Professor appointed as the new Dean of faculty in University College London

A Nigerian professor identified as Ibrahim Abubakar has been appointed as the Dean of Faculty of Population Health Sciences of the University College London.

Prof. Ibrahim Abubakar who has an MSc from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine will take over from Professor Graham Hart who has held the position since August 2011.

In a statement, The University confirmed that the appointment will take effect from August 1, 2021.

“We are delighted to announce that Ibrahim Abubakar, a world-leading scholar in the field of infectious disease epidemiology, will take up the post of Dean of the UCL Faculty of Population Health Sciences from 1 August 2021.

“He successfully leading the faculty to its position today as a leading global institution for education and research in public health and clinical medicine, consistently ranked in the world’s top ten. Professor Hart will continue to co-direct UCL Health of the Public.

“Professor Abubakar joined UCL in 2012, jointly appointed between the MRC Clinical Trials Unit and the Institute of Epidemiology and Health Care as Professor of Infectious Disease Epidemiology. In 2016, he was appointed Director of the Institute for Global Health and also served as Vice-Dean International and External Engagement for the faculty. Prior to his appointment at UCL, he led Public Health England’s successful tuberculosis control strategy. He is an NIHR (National Institute for Health Research) Senior Investigator and was elected to the Fellowship of the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2020 in recognition of his research in infectious disease epidemiology and migration and health.

“His work focuses on the epidemiology, prevention and treatment of infections including tuberculosis, hepatitides, HIV, and other common problems such as antimicrobial resistance and vaccine-preventable diseases, particularly among vulnerable populations. He has published widely, including over 300 research papers, policy reports, book chapters and textbooks. He has a strong commitment to equality and diversity, supporting excellence in education and research and tackling inequalities and social exclusion,” the statement read.

According to Wikipedia, Prof Ibrahim Abubakar qualified in medicine in 1992 from Ahmadu Bello University and initially trained in general medicine before specializing in public health medicine. He trained in public health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine graduating with an MSc in 1999, DPH from the University of Cambridge in 2000, and a Ph.D. from the University of East Anglia in 2007. He was elected to the Fellowship of the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2020 in recognition of his research in infectious disease epidemiology and migration and health.

He was head of TB at Public Health England. Prior to his appointment at UCL, he was Professor in Health Protection at the Norwich Medical School. In 2011, he was awarded a Senior Research Fellowship by NIHR on tuberculosis, and in 2016 he was appointed as an NIHR Senior Investigator.

He is the chair of the Wellcome Trust Population Health Expert Review Group and the Lancet Migration Initiative. He is an Advisory Board member of the Public Health Board of Open Society Foundation and of the MRC Global Health Board. He is also on the Editorial Board of the European Respiratory Journal and BMC Medicine.

He served as the chair of the WHO Strategic and Technical Advisory Group for Tuberculosis (STAG TB) from 2016 to 2019 and co-chaired the NICE TB guidelines development group, and was a board member, Africa Research Excellence Fund.