Segun Fatumo

Dr. Segun Fatumo is a computational geneticist, Associate Professor of Genetic Epidemiology and Bioinformatics at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), Fellow of the Advance HE, and a Wellcome International Fellow. He leads The African Computational Genomics (TACG) Research group at the MRC/UVRI and LSHTM. His group’s expertise includes but not limited to Genome-wide Association Studies (GWAS), Polygenic Risk Score(PRS), Fine Mapping, Mendelian randomisation studies and Drug Targets Discovery. He was recently (July 2020) awarded a prestigious Wellcome International Intermediate Fellowship to lead an innovative research programme at the MRC/UVRI and LSHTM.

Dr Fatumo’s research largely focuses on the genetic impact of non-communicable diseases in Africa, with particular interest in assessing the impact of genetic variation on kidney function, diabetes, lipid metabolism and a range of cardiovascular and cardiometabolic traits. He is actively involved in capacity building across Africa including teaching and/or postgraduate supervision at Makerere University Uganda, the University of Sciences, Techniques, and Technology of Bamako (USTTB) Mali, and Covenant University Nigeria and the H3Africa Bioinformatics Network (H3ABioNet) node at the Centre for Genomics Research and Innovation, National Biotechnology Development Agency (CGRI-NABDA) in Abuja, Nigeria. He is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA) in the UK and teaches on MSc programmes at LSHTM and Queen Mary University of London (QMUL).

Dr Fatumo co-leads the Nigerian Non-Communicable Diseases - Genetic Heritage Study (NCD-GHS) Consortium and co-directs the Nigerian cardio-metabolic genomic study (NicGen) - A concerted effort to see over 100,000 Nigerians participate in the eponymous study, which will seek to understand the genetic basis of the highly prevalent non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) in Nigeria such as chronic kidney, diabetes, obesity among others.

Dr Fatumo has been featured in notable media outlets including Science Magazine, Forbe, LSHTM press, SciDev.Net, African Vibes, Research Professional, etc. He gives regular invited and keynote presentations at major conferences around the globe and reviews for several high impact journals including serving as associate editor and member of editorial board.

Dr Fatumo received postdoctoral training in genetic epidemiology at the University of Cambridge and Wellcome Sanger Institute and a postdoctoral fellowship in Bioinformatics at the University of Georgia, Athens, USA. Prior to that, He had postgraduate training in applied Bioinformatics at the University of Cologne, Germany and Ph.D. in Computer Science (Bioinformatics specialization) from Covenant University, Nigeria. During his Ph.D. Programme, he developed a model which identified twenty-two (22) potential novel drug targets against malaria, some of which have been tested and validated experimentally.

Dr. Fatumo is the Founder and pioneer President of the Nigerian Bioinformatics and Genomics Network. He is the immediate past vice-president of the African Society for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology (ASBCB).