Adekayode Olanrewaju Sonibare

Professor Adekayode Olanrewaju Sonibare was trained in Nigeria’s Premier University, the University of Ibadan, where he obtained his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM). Due to his interest in Veterinary clinical practice, scientific research and passion for academia, he proceeded for his postgraduate studies in the same University and obtained both Masters in Veterinary Science and Doctor of Philosophy degrees in the Department of Veterinary Medicine. He completed the professional fellowship training of the College of Veterinary Surgeon of Nigeria in 2017.

Due to his clinical proficiency and exceptional diagnostic skills, he was offered an appointment as Veterinary Officer in the Veterinary Teaching Hospital (VTH), University of Ibadan from 1999-2003. Following the establishment of College of Veterinary Medicine at the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), he joined as one of the foundation staff in 2003. He played critical roles in the establishment of the Veterinary Teaching Hospital, FUNAAB and served as the coordinator of the activities of the VTH in the formative years.

Based on his academic inclinations, keen interest in research and scholarly publications he was appointed Lecturer I in the Department of Veterinary Medicine and Surgery, FUNAAB in 2009. He progressively rose through the ranks with merit-based promotions to Senior Lecturer (2013), Reader, 2016 and tenured Professor (2019).

In the course of his clinical duties and research studies, he conducted detailed investigations leading to the diagnosis, management, and in-depth documentation of some notable clinical diseases in animals. His research focus is on the aetiology, management and immunological responses in parasitic diseases of livestock, companion animals and wildlife. He has over fifty (50) scientific publications in local and international peer-review journals.

Over the years, Professor Sonibare has acquired administrative experience. He has served as the Coordinator of the VTH, FUNAAB (2005-2008); Acting Head of Department, Veterinary Medicine and Surgery (2015-2016); Deputy Dean, College of Veterinary Medicine, FUNAAB (2016-2017) and Acting Dean for 3 month in 2017. He has also served as the Chairman of FUNAAB Cattle Production Ventures (2016-2021). He was at various time the Coordinator of College of Veterinary Medicine Teaching and Research Farm as well as the Coordinator of Students Industrial Training programme. He is currently the Director, Veterinary Teaching Hospital (2018 to date). He was an academic visitor to the Proteins and Proteomics Laboratories of University of Glasgow, Gascube Scotland United Kingdom in 2017.

Ultimately, his research has successfully highlighted the economic impact of parasitism in ruminants and has revealed various approaches to the prevention, control and management of this condition. Importantly, he has been able to identify some innate resistance traits to gastrointestinal parasitism in ruminants. Specifically, he has demonstrated and documented haemonchotolerance traits among some breeds of goats and sheep in Nigeria. The identification of vaccine candidates of Haemochus spp, which is currently being investigated, could significantly ameliorate the negative impact of haemonchosis in ruminant production globally.