Prof. Ifedayo Adetifa appointed new NCDC Director-General

By Ajuma Edwina Ameh

President Buhari has approved the appointment of Prof. Ifedayo Morayo Adetifa as the new Director-General of Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).

Adetifa replaces Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, who has been appointed the Assistant Director-General of the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Adetifa’s appointment was announced in a statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, on Monday.

The professor is a Clinical Epidemiologist in the Epidemiology and Demography Department, and also an Associate Professor of Infectious Diseases Epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

He obtained his medical degree at the University of Ilorin, Nigeria, trained in Paediatrics and Child Health at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital and received the Fellowship of the West Africa College of Physicians in Paediatrics in 2005.

He obtained his Ph.D from the University of Amsterdam in 2012, for research in Tuberculosis Epidemiology.

Adetifa’s research interests are in vaccine impact/effectiveness studies; innovative approaches/surveillance tools for monitoring vaccination; Tuberculosis Epidemiology, and evidence synthesis including systematic reviews.

He was awarded the MRC/DFID African Research Leader Fellowship in 2018, and he is a member of the Kenyan National Immunisation Coordinating Committee.

Adetifa is a member of the World Health Organisation, Africa Region’s (WHO-AFRO) Regional Immunisation Technical Advisory Group.