The Nigerian Academy of Science (NAS) has named the winner for its 2023 NAS Gold Medal Prize for Life Sciences. He is Rufus Olusola Akinyemi, a Professor of Geriatric Neurology and Translational Neuroscience at the University of Ibadan.
A statement by the Academy said Akinyemi’s research, over the last decade, has focused on stroke, post-stroke vascular cognitive mimpairment, and dementia (PSVCID), and stroke biobanking.
The statement by Dr. Sonny Folorunso Kuku, Chairman, NAS Science Prize Committee said, Prof Akinyemi’s research “has yielded novel outputs of potential impact on millions of African and global populations in this era of precision medicine,” adding that he and his collaborators have significantly improved knowledge on the molecular mechanisms underlying vascular cognitive impairment and dementia, especially in the role of neuroinflammation in the pathobiology of these disorders whose prevalence is increasing at an alarming rate globally.
The NAS Gold Medal Award would be presented to him during the Fifth NAS Annual Scientific Conference on January 24, 2024, in Lagos.
