Dr. Abel Olusola Idowu

I am a senior researcher in Pharmaceutical Microbiology and Biotechnology with a focus on antimicrobial chemotherapy of infectious diseases, the epidemiology of drug resistance in bacterial pathogens and parasites of public health importance, and genomics of resistance to malaria and bacterial pathogens. I also investigate plant-derived chemotherapeutic agents as an alternative therapy option in microbial infections, with the goal of drug discovery from plant sources for chemotherapy of bacterial infections. My work also evaluates water sources to improve the microbial quality of drinking water.

As a researcher focused on antimicrobial chemotherapy of infectious diseases, my research aims to provide insight into the effectiveness of antibiotics to maximize their use, limit the spread of resistance, and discover bioactive agents from plants with potent antimicrobial effects. My work has practical applications in protecting the life span of currently used antibiotics and finding new ones from plant sources. My work uses genomics to monitor the effectiveness of antimicrobial medicines through surveillance for drug resistance determinants in clinical pathogens as a guardrail to quickly detect drug-resistant cases of malaria and other bacterial pathogens before they become public health threats.