By Hassan Zaggi
Thirty years after its establishment, the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD) has backed May and Baker’s professional service award in pharmacy.
The award presentation was held during the 94th Annual National Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) Conference in Rivers state.
Since the coming in of the current Director General of the Institute, Dr. Obi Adigwe, NIPRD has become a hub of research not only in Nigeria, but the Africa region.
This is the first time NIPRD is receiving such award since its 30 years of creation.
It would be recalled that within the tenure of the current Director General, NIPRD has been able to successful host of the Pharmaceutical Industry Discourse focused on the relationships between Health Education and Engagement tagged (NIPRD-HEEAD), Contextual Processing Protocol (CPP), aimed at harnessing local resources; developed an intensive backward integration plan to stimulate local product of excipients, recontextualising existing research to address National and Regional healthcare and socioeconomic needs and increasing collaborative engagement with Nigerian and foreign universities which partnerships are leveraged, to gain access to cutting edge interventions, while ensuring that they are suitably contextualised for our setting.
The award was clinched by NIPRD’s head of Research and Development (R&D), Prof. Martins Emeje.
While presenting the award to the Director-General of NIPRD, Prof. Emeje, applauded the DG for creating a conducive environment for research to thrive, which was responsible for his recognition.
He noted that the 2021 competition was intense, with distinguished applicants from all walks of life applying. Speaking, Dr. Adigwe commended Professor Emeje for ensuring that NIPRD’s vision for R&D is on track, and for the unprecedented successes achieved in less than four years of his stewardship.
Winning the May & Baker professional service award in Pharmacy comes with a certificate, a plaque and a cash prize of N500, 000. 00.
