August 2020
Emmanuel Tumininu Obishakin from Nigeria is our ambassador of the month. Emmanuel is a Postdoctoral Researcher/Reaching Assistant at Ghent University in South Korea. During 2020, Emmanuel contributed to immunopaedia content by conducting two interview of prominent researchers Prof Magez and Prof Uzonna.
Position: Assistant Director
Research Institute: National Veterinary Research Institute, Vom, Plateau State Nigeria (Current address: Postdoctoral researcher/teaching assistant, Biomedical Research Centre, Ghent University Global Campus, Songdo, Incheon, South Korea
Research interests: Molecular diagnosis and immunology of infectious diseases
Why I love immunology: I really love immunology, especially the immunology of pathogenic organisms because it explains how the host’s body interacts with invading pathogens. Although my first touch of immunology was brief at the veterinary school, during my PhD, I had a privilege of studying some immune responses of the host during an infection and up until now, it fascinates me! In addition, immunology cuts across infectious diseases. For instance, my understanding of immunology helps me to easily grasp the immune response details of other diseases such as COVID-19. In fact, the solution to most infectious diseases lies with immunology!
If I wasn’t an immunologist I would be: A molecular biologists for infectious diseases. This is because, there are still more things to learn about the infectious diseases in my country.
Tips for young people who want to enter the field of immunology: 1) The field of immunology needs more people than ever because of COVID-19 and the world’s expectation for a vaccine that works. To succeed as a young person who is interested in immunology, have a mentor, be focused, be ready to study because your mentor cannot tell you everything, do not give up, know that immunology has so much detail, so many branches and eventually, you have to focus on your field of interest. Look for opportunities to learn more, in immunology you will keep learning. I consider myself to still be a student of immunology…
Recent publications: Radwanska M., Nguyen H.T.T., Moon S., Obishakin E., Magez S. (2020) Establishment of a Standardized Vaccine Protocol for the Analysis of Protective Immune Responses During Experimental Trypanosome Infections in Mice. In: Michels P., Ginger M., Zilberstein D. (eds) Trypanosomatids. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 2116. Humana, New York, NY.
Magez S, Pinto J, Obishakin E, Radwanska M. Infections with extracellular trypanosomes require control by efficient innate immune mechanisms and can result in the destruction of the mammalian humoral immune system. Frontiers in Immunology. 2020;11:382.
What being an Immunopaedia Ambassador means to me: To me, it means an opportunity to meet greater minds in this field and a way to contribute in my little way…
How I have contributed to Immunopaedia so far: I have conducted two interviews for two immunology Professors as immunologists of the month and I hope to contribute more.
How can you get in touch with me ? LinkedIn & ResearchGate