By Gab Dike, Lagos
The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) National Research Fund (NRF) has awarded thirty-four-million naira grant for cancer treatment to Yaba College of Technology research team.
The grant is to enable the researchers to develop an artificial intelligence-based precision medicine solution for prostate cancer treatment with a solution that has the potential to significantly improve outcomes for prostate cancer patients in Nigeria and the world at large.
The grant is meant to develop a technique that uses AI to predict optimal drug combinations for individual prostate cancer patients based on analyses of biopsy tissue samples.
Experts in Computer Engineering, Medical Biochemistry, Oncology, Pathology, Zoology, Pharmacognosy and Ethnopharmacy, Toxicology, and Pharmacology are partnering with the college researchers and would be having access to biopsy samples from consenting prostate cancer patients in Nigeria, which has one of the highest prostate cancer rates in the world.
The researchers are led by the Principal Investigator, Mrs Amolegbe Oluwatosin Aishat, of the Department of Biological Science, YABATECH and co- researchers are from Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto and the University of Lagos.
The Rector of YABATECH, Dr Ibraheem Abdul, in his excitement pledged the college total support to the team on the innovative work to the desired end.
According to him, “We are excited to support Mrs. Amolegbe and her team in this innovative work.”
He also congratulated the team; Mrs Oluwatosin Amolegbe, Dr Mustapha Imam, Dr Funmilayo Doherty, Dr Ibrahim Malami, Dr Idowu Aneyo, Engr Adebayo Adebari, and Dr Waidi Abiodun Ashiru on well-deserved grant.