The University of Ibadan’s Vice Chancellor, Prof Idowu Olayinka has today (Thursday), November 19th inaugurated the Department of Nuclear Medicine at the College of Medicine, the first of its kind in any university in West Africa.
This development is made known in a statement earlier released to the public today (Thursday) by the Vice Chancellor.
Until this moment, “the new Department has been operating as a Nuclear Medicine Centre since 27 March 2006, when it was officially commissioned by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA),” Prof Olayinka said, adding that the Senate had approved its establishment in May 2019.
He explained that “Nuclear Medicine involves the use of nuclear power to make patients better by imaging or scanning them, and also by giving them treatments which may be administered by various routes into their bodies.”
Prof Olayinka also revealed that “Research in Nuclear Medicine at Ibadan has had a chequered history through the works of Prof B. O. A. Osifo, NPOM. The IAEA has been interested in cancer patients in Africa since 1995 when the Agency donated a Tumour Marker Project for Diagnosis of the Common Cancers in Africa through blood specimens.”
“IAEA also funded another project on Thyroid Disorders using blood specimens for diagnosis. This project also included the Neonatal Hypothroidism. These projects covered the period from 1995 to 2002.”
The Department among others would “provide efficient Nuclear Medicine services toward research, training and clinical procedures in support of the mandate of the University of Ibadan” and “evolve towards becoming a notable Nuclear Medicine facility known for outstanding research, competent training and efficient service,” the VC said.
