Isa Marte Hussaini Becomes Borno State New Commissioner for Health

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Isa Marte Hussaini, a professor of Pharmacology and Fellow of the Nigeria Academy of Pharmacy (NAPharm), has been appointed as the new commissioner for health by the Borno State government.

His appointment was announced on Tuesday by the Special Adviser on Public Relations and Strategy, Malam Isa Gusau, following the termination of appointment of the former health commissioner, Dr Salisu Kwaya-bura, by the governor.

The Borno State Governor, Prof. Babagana Zulum named Prof. Isa Marte, his chief of staff, as the new officer-in charge of the state health ministry, to replace Dr Salisu Kwaya-Bura.

The appointment was announced in a statement by the Special Adviser on Public Relations and Strategy, Malam Isa Gusau.

The statement reads partly, “The Borno State Governor, Prof. Babagana Zulum, has relieved the state Commissioner for Health, Dr Salisu Kwaya-bura, of his position and named Prof. Hussaini as replacement”.

Gusau had said the directive was part of necessary measures to reposition the ministry of health.

As an erudite scholar and researcher, Prof. Hussaini has been at the forefront in the search and investigation of useful local medical plants for cancer treatment. In 2015, he presented one of his latest research findings to the Nigerian Academy of Science at the induction ceremony of Fellows in Abuja where he stated that some Nigerian herbal plants are more efficacious than the current drugs used in cancer treatments.

Similarly, on 12 February 2016, he presented a lecture, titled “Exploitation of medicinal plant compounds in the search for novel cancer therapeutic agents” in an event hosted by Professor Louise Serpell through the Sussex Nigerian Society, University of Sussex Genome Damage and Stability Centre, UK.

For his outstanding contributions to cancer research in Nigeria, Prof. Hussaini was made a Fellow of Nigeria Academy of Science in 2013 and in November 2015, he was made a Fellow of Nigeria Academy of Pharmacy. He became a Fellow of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria in 2016. He is also a founding member of the International Society of Neuro-Oncology (SNO).

The renowned scholar has, to his credit, 105 peer-reviewed journal publications and five book chapters which have been cited over 3,200 times by other researchers worldwide. Prof. Hussaini has spoken at over 20 international conferences and symposia and he has been invited as a guest lecturer in many universities throughout the world.