Meet Prof. Salako, The New NIMR DG

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Professor Babatunde Lawal  Salako is the current director general/CEO of the National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR).

A seasoned physician, lecturer and administrator, his voyage into the world of medicine began in 1981, when he gained admission into the University of Ibadan to study Medicine from where he bagged his MBBS in 1986. He forged ahead for the fellowship of the West African Postgraduate Medical College, (FWACP) between 1990 and 1994, where he studied International Medicine/Nephrology.

A diligent and studious Babatunde Salako rose through the ranks from a senior registrar to the professorial level in 2006. He was a senior registrar in the Department of Medicine, University College Hospital, Ibadan, between 1992 and 1996. He became lecturer 1 in the same department from 1996 to 1999.

Due to his impressive record of success, he was promoted to the level of senior lecturer in 1999, and was elevated again in 2003 to the post of reader. A researcher par excellence, he soon became the professor of the medicine department of UCH, Ibadan, Nigeria.

The new NIMR DG has conducted several researches at local and international levels. He was a sole Investigator on the “frequency and pattern of target organ damage in newly diagnosed hypertensive subjects, in the year 2000. Three years later, Salako was invited by the CDC in Atlanta USA, as a member of an international expert panel to design a ten-day seminar on the control of chronic disease and cardiovascular disease epidemiology for sub-Saharan Africa. He was later appointed editor of the Tropical Journal of Nephrology, which is official Journal of the Nigerian Association of Nephrology.

Prof. Salako is a recipient of the Award of Excellence and Commitment to Medical Practice presented by the Board and Management of the University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria in June 2008. The award was given to him in recognition of the first successful kidney transplantation, which he spearheaded.

He holds professional memberships with the Nigerian Medical Association, the Nigerian Association of Nephrology, the International Society of Hypertension in Blacks, the Scientific Council on Epidemiology and Prevention, the World Heart Federation, the Global Forum for Health Research and the National Institute of Management, among others.

The management and staff of Pharmanews wish him the best as NIMR’s CEO.