CARDIOVASCULAR RESEARCH GROUP, FACULTY OF MEDICAL SCIENCES, UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA
Our mission is to establish a Cardiovascular Research Group (CVRG) to foster excellence in cardiovascular research by facilitating activity and collaboration among cardiovascular researchers at the Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Nigeria along the common theme of “integrated translational cardiovascular research from bench to bedside”. The research interest of the members of CVRG, from Departments of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Medicine, Surgery, Pathology, Physiology and Radiation Medicine span multiple research pillars (basic research, translational research and clinical research). This makes the CVRG, although highly specialized, trans-disciplinary in approach.
JUSTIFICATION
The Faculty of Medical Sciences of the University of Nigeria is recognized as a Centre of Excellence in Cardiothoracic Surgery in Nigeria and over the years great feats have been demonstrated in the area of cardiovascular surgery in the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital. Although cardiovascular researchers in various departments of the Faculty of Medical Sciences of the university have been quite active in undertaking and communicating research outputs, the effect of their outputs has not been felt as compared to cardiothoracic surgery. Therefore it becomes pertinent at this point to create an institutionalized framework as a specialized faculty group to make the collective outputs of researchers in the group more pronounced. This will also greatly enhance the research activities of individual researchers in the group and the cardiovascular research as a whole at the University of Nigeria and make the group more attractive for worthwhile research grants.
STATEMENT OF INTENT
The Cardiovascular Research Group (CVRG) is a research group comprising heart and vascular researchers in the Faculty of Medical sciences. It is an interdisciplinary research group from six different departments, namely; Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Medicine, Surgery, Pathology, Physiology and Radiation Medicine The focal points of CVRG are cutting edge cardiovascular research initiatives, seminars and research clubs as well as research interests of individual CVRG members.
The group shall establish linkages with similar research groups in different universities abroad to undertake collaborative research projects, including training of more junior faculty members of the group. CVRG also intends to attract funding for laboratory development and research and for salaries of Postdoctoral Fellows joining the Group from universities abroad.
It is our intention to focus on five basic areas of research at the first instance, namely; natural products for arrhythmias and myocardial infarction and elucidation of their mechanisms of action, cardiac derived stem cells in the management of myocardial infarction, mitochondrial studies in heart failure, ion channels using isolated cells to determine the mechanisms of action of drugs in the management of arrhythmias and cardiovascular drugs development from natural sources. This shall require procurement of essential equipments for a start for which we hope to depend on the University and funding bodies.
At present most research projects of the CVRG are personalized but largely in the areas of the Group interest. Members of the Cardiovascular Research group (CVRG) include:
1. Dr Samuel Ghasi Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics Coordinator.
2. Dr Raphael Anakwue Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics Member.
3. Dr Nelson Oguanobi Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics Member.
4. Dr Daniel Nwachukwu Department of Physiology Member.
5. Dr John Eze Department of Surgery Member .
6. Dr Sunday Ocheni Department of Haematology Member.
7. Dr Ngozi Njeze Department of Radiation Medicine Member.
8. Dr Christian Okafor Department of Medicine Member.
W A T
