Dr. Ifeoluwa Gbala

Youtube link: Denied Medicine Letter of Offer, Now Doctor of Microbiology

Ifeoluwa Deborah Gbala is a translational research enthusiast driven by the desire to see a transformed and sustainable society stemming from the advents of STEM. She holds a PhD in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology from the Pan African University – Institute for Basic Sciences, Technology and Innovation, Kenya, under the African Union scholarship. Ifeoluwa is currently a WE-STAR Postdoctoral fellow at the Tumor Virology Lab, International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Trieste, Italy. Her research interests in host-pathogen interactions and drug development (especially in biopharmaceuticals), is to be able to contribute significantly to achieving equity in healthcare through available, accessible, and affordable efficacious therapy. For about a decade, she has consistently participated in research that involves antimicrobial resistance surveillance, exploring the therapeutic potentials of medicinal plants and microbial products, and investigating mechanisms of pathogenesis. During her PhD research, she generated two recombinant peptides that are potent against human pathogens enlisted as critical priority for drug development by the WHO. She also developed a biodegradable, non-toxic plant-dyebased nucleic acid loading buffer for gel electrophoresis. This product, which is under further development, eliminates the environmental and users’ toxicity concerns associated with synthetic dyes used in the existing loading buffers. Her current research involves investigating the interactions of high-risk human papilloma virus subtypes with the human cell; and exploring the potential of a novel (self-designed) peptide in blocking some of these interactions as a therapeutic approach. With two patent applications to her name, Ifeoluwa aspires to create more solutions in health science through biotechnology. It is also her aspiration to build the extensive skills needed to transform laboratory discoveries to products. In her free time, she enjoys sight-seeing.

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