Alhaji U. N'jai
Bio
Dr. Alhaji U. N’jai is a technical leader, thought leader, and scholar with broad research interests at the intersection of biomedical science (infectious disease, toxicology, immunology, genomics, systems biology), environmental science, One health, anthropology, and indigenous African Knowledge Base systems. He is a Director of University of Wisconsin-Madison Global Health Institute One Health Center West Africa. Dr. N’jai is an Associate Professor of Medicine at California University of Science and Medicine (CUSM), Colton, California and also at the Department of Microbiology, College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences (COMAHS) and Biological Sciences, Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone. He is also an adjunct Professor of Public Health at Ernest Bai Koroma University of Science and Technology and Njala University Post graduate programs.
Since December 2014, he has led Ebola control and infectious disease emerging in Africa (IDEA) initiative in Sierra Leone and Africa that has resulted in establishment of international collaborative projects on Ebola and infectious diseases between University of Sierra Leone, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Institute of Medical Sciences at University of Tokyo, and Joint Medical Unit of 34 Military hospital and development of a novel Ebola Vaccine. This has resulted in training, supervision, and mentoring of post-docs, PhDs, several master’s students, and undergraduates in research. Dr. N’jai is a member of the college of experts for the Africa Research Excellence Fund (AREF) in Gambia, where he chairs selection of fellows and participates in mentoring of PhD and Post-doctoral research scientists across Africa. His research work in the areas of expertise functional genomics, bioinformatics, systems biology, immunology, toxicology, and stem cell biology have resulted in multiple publications and offered new paradigms around aryl hydrocarbon (Ah) receptor signaling and Cytochrome P450 metabolism pathways. For the last 10 years, he has been invited to chair and lead panel reviews for the United States National Science Foundation (NSF) Life Science Research Tools. He is the current managing editor of the Sierra Leone Journal of Biomedical Research and an editorial board member and reviewer for numerous global journals.
Dr. N’jai is the founder and chief strategist of Project 1808, Inc, a US 501(c3) nonprofit and Sierra Leone community-based organization, whose mission is to transform communities through education that is linked to service, innovation, cultural empowerment, technical and leadership skills development at the Schools, Community, and University. Project 1808, Inc annual Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM) and Leadership festival is now a national event in Sierra Leone. Project 1808, Inc has just launched Koinadugu College in Kabala, a model experiential One Health campus, whose vision is to create thriving communities.
From 2011-2016, he was Senior Scientist and Toxicologist, Global Research and Development at Procter & Gamble, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA leading product development in 180 countries with a net portfolio of 15 billion USD. Dr. N’jai is currently a senior technical advisor for the Directorate of Health Securities and Emergencies (DHSE) at Sierra Leone Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MOHS), the soon to be National Public Health Agency (NPHA). He also serves as the chairman of the One Health Technical Working Group in Sierra Leone providing guidance on strategic plans, governance and coordination. He is also a co-chair of the West African Consortium for Clinical Research on Epidemic Pathogens (WAC-CREP). Dr. N’jai is also the Africa Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) research Champion for Sierra Leone and part of the scientific steering committee lead research prioritization and mapping across Africa. He is a Principal Investigator and member of the Abbott Pandemic Defense Coalition (APDC) leading Acute Febrile Illness Surveillance and virus discovery research. Dr. N’jai is also a Co-Principal Investigator and Member of The University of Tokyo Pandemic preparedness, Infection, and Advanced research center (UTOPIA), part of Japan’s 2 billion USD initiative for rapid development and delivery of safe vaccines and therapeutics within 100 days of a pandemic. In December 2019, he was recognized in the list of the top 100 of the 1000 most influential Black Scientists in America by Cell Mentor. In 2022, he was selected as the Kansas University African Studies Center (KASC) AUT 2022 KASC African Affiliate Fellow