Prof. Chibueze Peter Ihekwereme is the dean, Faculty of Pharmacy, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State. He took over from Prof. Festus Basden Chinedu Okoye.
Born and raised in Enugu, Enugu State, the professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology attended the prestigious National Grammar School, Nike. He subsequently obtained his bachelor’s degree in Pharmacy in December 1998, as well as a master’s degree in Pharmacy, in Pharmacology & Toxicology, in January 2002, both from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He later bagged a Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) degree from the University of Benin, Benin City, Edo State.
Ihekwereme proceeded to Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, in 2009, where he bagged his PhD in Pharmacology & Toxicology in February 2014. He is the pioneer doctorate degree graduate of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences at Nnamdi Azikiwe University with the current VC of the university, Professor Charles Okechukwu Esimone, as one of his supervisors.
His research interest is on tropical diseases. He believes that affordable and sustainable healthcare for the poor African population should leverage Africa’s vast medicinal biodiversity – which, packaged with minimal processing, will offer effective remedy.
Ihekwereme is a recipient of the prestigious Canadian Commonwealth Scholarship Program (CCSP). A Fellow of the Poverty Related Disease College, he conducted his PhD research at Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The research was a process engineering of Calu-3 cell viability model for respiratory mucosal irritation and toxicity screening of drugs and pharmaceutical excipients.
As a scholar, the UNIZIK faculty of pharmacy dean has visited Istituto di Tecnologie Biomediche, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Pisa, Italy; the International Centre for Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology, Cape Town, South Africa; Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda, among others. He has also attended many conferences, locally and internationally.
Ihekwereme has over 50 publications to his credit, which comprise self-authored and co-authored books, as well as contributions to many local and international journals and still counting. One of the books he co-authored, “Advances in acute toxicity testing: Strengths, weaknesses and regulatory acceptance”, which was published in 2018, has been cited by many researchers and scholars.
Professor Ihekwereme is happily married and blessed with four children.
