Epidemiology · Public Health · Niger Delta
MBBS · MScPH · FMCPH
Professor of Epidemiology & Public Health, and Director of the Centre for Health and Development, University of Port Harcourt.
Turning evidence into better health for the people of the Niger Delta and Nigeria — across environmental epidemiology, maternal and non-communicable disease, malaria elimination, and health-systems innovation.
I am a Professor of Epidemiology and Public Health at the University of Port Harcourt, Director of its Centre for Health and Development, and an Honorary Consultant Public Health Physician at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital. Across more than twenty years I have worked at the intersection of environmental epidemiology, non-communicable disease surveillance, infectious disease control, maternal and child health, and health-systems digitalisation.
My work is anchored in the Niger Delta — one of the world's most heavily oil-and-gas-polluted regions — where I have led population-based studies linking gas flaring and particulate-matter air pollution to hypertension and other non-communicable diseases, and directed multi-local-government soot-and-health surveillance for the Rivers State Government.
Alongside research, I lead — directing a University centre charged with winning grants, driving collaborative research, and building the public-health workforce of the Niger Delta. What ties it together is a single commitment: rigorous evidence, applied where the need is greatest, and passed on to those who will carry the work forward.
My research runs along five connected threads — from the health cost of oil-and-gas pollution to AI-assisted diagnosis on a phone.
Population studies linking gas flaring and particulate-matter air pollution to hypertension and cardiovascular risk in the Niger Delta — plus drinking-water quality, cooking-fuel and respiratory health, and a five-year soot-and-health trend analysis across all 23 Local Government Areas of Rivers State.
The case for early, universal gestational-diabetes screening — built on findings from over 9,000 pregnant women — through to a state-of-the-art review of cardiovascular disease in women. Now Advocacy Stream Manager on the Gates-funded AIM MNCNH project.
Malaria burden, economics, and prevention among children under five and pregnant women, and a widely cited review of strategies for elimination in Nigeria. Member of the Technical Committee under the NDDC Professorial Chair on Malaria Elimination and Phytomedicine Research.
Operational and research leadership across TB, HIV, Ebola, mpox, and COVID-19 — including the Rivers State Drug-Resistant TB Centre, HIV biobehavioural surveillance, and risk communication for the state's Public Health Emergency Operations Centre.
From moving field surveys off paper with Open Data Kit, to multi-state research on electronic medical-record adoption, to explainable-AI systems that help frontline workers diagnose febrile diseases like malaria and typhoid — and, most recently, digital health for early cancer detection and referral across sub-Saharan Africa.
Approximately 100 peer-reviewed publications, ~1,600 citations, an h-index of 19 and an i10-index of 35 (Google Scholar, August 2026). Reviewer for BMJ, PLOS, BMC, and other Elsevier journals.
Developing the next generation of African researchers is central to my work.
A free learning platform, open to anyone in healthcare delivery, that builds practical public-health and leadership skills. Close to 1,000 people have registered since it launched in 2024.
I mentor a circle of research associates, building their grant-writing capacity by bringing them into live grant applications and projects as collaborators.
Through MWAN, I have helped run the Global Health Women Leadership Development Programme and co-created the Leadership Enhancement and Development (LEaD) training for early-career female doctors.
I supervise PhD and Master's students in the School of Public Health, teaching epidemiology, biostatistics, research methods, maternal and child health, and international health.
I speak and convene on environmental health, malaria elimination, maternal and non-communicable disease, and research leadership. My Masterclass Series is an open platform reaching a national audience of health workers, and I regularly chair and organise state and national scientific conferences.
Free Masterclass sessions are published on YouTube, and my inaugural lecture at the University of Port Harcourt marks a milestone in this public-facing work.
Research & academic collaboration
omosivie.maduka@uniport.edu.ngFor research collaboration, consulting enquiries, speaking invitations, and mentorship, I'd be glad to hear from you.
