Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items
Categories
UFS News Media Release Research
Years
2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Months
January February March April July May June August September October November December
Previous Archive
21 April 2023 | Story Andre Damons | Photo Charl Devenish
Dr Emms
Dr Ayodeji Emmanuel Ogunbayo (right), who graduated this week with a Doctor of Philosophy degree with specialisation in Medical Virology, with his proud supervisor Prof Martin Nyaga, Associate Professor in the UFS Next Generation Sequencing (UFS-NGS).

With respiratory diseases contributing to the highest morbidity and mortality rate in children, and the vast majority of disease aetiology remaining undiagnosed in clinical settings, Dr Ayodeji Emmanuel Ogunbayo hopes his research for his PhD in Medical Virology will help to reduce mortality in children with respiratory infection.

Dr Ogunbayo, commonly known as Dr Emms by his peers, graduated on Thursday (20 April 2023) with a Doctor of Philosophy degree with specialisation in Medical Virology at the University of the Free State (UFS) Faculty of Health Sciences graduation ceremony. The title of his thesis was Metagenomics of the respiratory RNA virome of children in the Free State. His supervisor was Prof Martin Nyaga, Associate Professor in the UFS Next Generation Sequencing (UFS-NGS) and Director of the WHO Collaborating Centre (WHO CC).

“While clinical metagenomics next-generation sequencing (mNGS), which is an upcoming method, has the potential to revolutionise infection diagnosis and management in children, there is a dearth of information on its clinical applicability in Africa. This is the knowledge that guided the inception of this research,” says Dr Ogunbayo.

Project came at the right time

He commenced with his PhD in Medical Virology in 2019, which was centred on the applicability of mNGS in severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) in children and deciphering the children’s respiratory virome in health and disease, a project which was the first of its kind in Africa.

According to him, the project was conceived before the COVID-19 pandemic, however, despite the challenges encountered due to lockdown measures, the project came at the right time as it was able to address several profound effects of the pandemic such as COVID-19 on the dynamics of transmission of respiratory viruses and ultimately its effect on children’s health. During his PhD study, he published four manuscripts in highly reputable journals including the most recent one which was accepted in Journal of Medical Virology (JMV)  an impressive impact factor of 20.693.

The findings from this study included a validated and robust workflow to recover respiratory RNA viruses from clinical samples, according to the graduation programme. The established workflow was adapted to decipher children’s respiratory virome composition in health and disease, with a degree of heterogeneity, while simultaneously establishing the clinical diagnostic applicability of mNGS and, more importantly, the increased utility of dual-triple mNGS analysis tools in robust detection of viral pathogens in SARI.

His hope for the research

Dr Ogunbayo says: “This research generated vast pioneering information and data in Africa that could guide and influence policy in the adoption of clinical metagenomics, especially in cases where conventional methods of diagnosis yielded no results. Hopefully, this could lessen mortality due to respiratory infection in children.

Before studying in the field of medical Microbiology and Virology, he wanted to be a psychiatric nurse, but instead chose his current field of study because of his interest in the microbial world and pathology.

“It’s a feeling one cannot really put into words. A part of me feels like it is a ‘dream come true’ and another part of me feels like ‘this is a milestone achieved, but it’s just a stepping stone to further milestones to be achieved’.

“What is next is for me to dive into the world of policy-influencing research, give back to the academic community through student supervision, and work on my journey to becoming an emerging researcher. This is the reason I have taken a postdoctoral position at the UFS-NGS Unit under the mentorship of Prof Martin Nyaga.”

Prof Nyaga says: “Looking back at Emmanuel’s doctoral journey, it brought out the best in him in every aspect of the study. Longitudinal studies are hectic in the sampling phase, and all the ethical clearances that a study must achieve prior to beginning the sampling and the laboratory work can be very frustrating. Soon after his study was approved, the pandemic lockdown level 5 rules were applied, which meant he had to pause on the study. However, his focus, positive mindset and his ability to work in close consultation with his supervisor enabled him to finish this study in the best way possible. I am very proud of him.”

News Archive

Incidents on the Bloemfontein Campus
2016-08-25

Statement by the Institutional Forum of the University of the Free State (UFS) - Released by Dr Willy Nel (Chairperson) on behalf of the Institutional Forum of the UFS

 

Two incidents happened on campus the past week, which were brought to the attention of the university management:

1. The university management received a complaint on 16 August 2016 that a student had sprayed liquid in the face of a security guard at one of the university gates. The reason appears to be that three students were sent back to their residence to collect their student cards in order to exit the campus – as required – and this might have caused the reaction. In video footage, it is clear that a student on the passenger side was responsible for the spraying incident. Statements have been taken from the three students in the car as well as from the affected security guard. The student claims that the liquid was water from his gym bottle. Regardless, charge sheets were prepared and delivered, and the disciplinary hearing has been scheduled on an urgent basis for 1 September 2016.

2. An incident happened on the Bloemfontein Campus on 23 August 2016, with a test being distributed in a class where the answer to one of the questions was included in the Afrikaans version, while it was excluded in the English version. The matter was investigated and it was decided that the written test will be set aside and a new test, covering the same scope, will be compiled for all students; the new test will be subject to external moderation; and external moderation of tests in the particular department will take place until the end of the year. The lecturer concerned claims that this was a genuine mistake and not intentional, in that guidelines for that one question were removed after a decision to add further examination questions, which made the guidelines obsolete; in the process of revising the papers, the lecturer made a mistake and did not remove the guidelines for both the English and Afrikaans versions. Nonetheless, the university management has decided on a disciplinary process involving the lecturer concerned, given the seriousness of the matter.


Released by: Lacea Loader (Director: Communication and Brand Management)
Tel: +27 51 401 3422/2707 or +27 83 645 2454
Email: news@ufs.ac.za  | loaderl@ufs.ac.za
Fax: +27 51 444 6393


We use cookies to make interactions with our websites and services easy and meaningful. To better understand how they are used, read more about the UFS cookie policy. By continuing to use this site you are giving us your consent to do this.

Accept