Ekanem Ikpi Braide ( OFR) (born 6 March 1946) is a Nigerian

Parasitologist Parasitology is the study of parasites, their hosts, and the relationship between them. As a biological discipline, the scope of parasitology is not determined by the organism or environment in question but by their way of life. This means it f ...

. She was a Vice-Chancellor of Cross River University of Technology (CRUTECH), Calabar, and pioneer Vice-Chancellor of Federal University of Technology,

Lafia Lafia is a city in Nigeria's North Central (Nigeria), North Central region. It is the capital and largest city of Nasarawa State, with a population of 509,300 inhabitants as of the 2021 census. And it's the Headquarter of Lafia Emirate Council. ...

. She is credited with a major contribution to the eradication of guinea worm in Nigeria. In 2020, she was made the first female President-elect of the

Nigerian Academy of Science The Nigerian Academy of Science is the official science academy of Nigeria. The academy of science was established on 18 January 1977, as an association of Nigeria's foremost scientists, but incorporated in 1986. It is the apex scientific org ...

. Braide is Chairman of the Board of Trustees,

The Leprosy Mission The Leprosy Mission is an international and inter-denominational Christian NGO, the largest and oldest organisation working in the fight against leprosy. Founded as the Mission to Lepers, it has the goal of zero leprosy transmission by 2035. As ...

(TLM) Nigeria. She is the Pro-Chancellor of Arthur Jarvis University, Akpabuyo, Nigeria. She is the first female President of the

Education and career

Braide was born in

Cross River State Cross River State is a state in the South-South geopolitical zone of Nigeria. Named for the Cross River, the state was formed from the eastern part of the Eastern Region on 27 May 1967. The state has its capital as Calabar and is bordered to ...

in 1946, and attended St Anne's School Ibadan for her secondary school education. She studied

zoology Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the anatomy, structure, embryology, Biological classification, classification, Ethology, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinction, extinct, and ...

at the

University of Ife Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) is a federal university in Ile-Ife, Osun State, Nigeria. The university was founded in 1961 and classes commenced in October 1962 as the University of Ife by the regional government of Western Nigeria, which w ...

before obtaining her Master's degree in

Parasitology Parasitology is the study of parasites, their host (biology), hosts, and the relationship between them. As a List of biology disciplines, biological discipline, the scope of parasitology is not determined by the organism or environment in questio ...

(1973), and Doctorate degree in

Epidemiology Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution (who, when, and where), patterns and Risk factor (epidemiology), determinants of health and disease conditions in a defined population, and application of this knowledge to prevent dise ...

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

, New York (1978). She holds a Certificate in

Epidemiological Methods The science of epidemiology has matured significantly from the times of Hippocrates, Semmelweis and John Snow. The techniques for gathering and analyzing epidemiological data vary depending on the type of disease being monitored but each study will ...

from

Southampton University The University of Southampton (abbreviated as ''Soton'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university in Southampton, England. Southampton is a founding member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universities in the United K ...

(British Council Course). She is a Fellow and Co-founder, Nigerian Society of Parasitology; Fellow, Salzburg Seminar Session 319; Fellow (President designate) Nigerian Academy of Science Earlier in her career, Braide taught in Community Secondary School, Ugep from 1966 to 1968, before transferring to College of Education, Port Harcourt (1973), and later moved to

University of Nigeria, Nsukka A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

where she lectured between 1973 and 1976. In 1978, she was appointed Officer/Researcher (pioneer) in charge of the

Onchocerciasis Onchocerciasis, also known as river blindness, is a disease caused by infection with the parasitic worm ''Onchocerca volvulus''. Symptoms include severe itching, bumps under the skin, and blindness. It is the second-most common cause of blindne ...

Control Unit of the Nigerian Institute for

Trypanosomiasis Trypanosomiasis or trypanosomosis is the name of several diseases in vertebrates caused by parasitic protozoan trypanosomes of the genus ''Trypanosoma''. In humans this includes African trypanosomiasis and Chagas disease. A number of other disea ...

Research, Kaduna until 1979. Braide has worked at the

University of Calabar The University of Calabar is a federal university situated in Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria. It is one of Nigeria's second-generation federal universities. The University of Calabar was a campus of the University of Nigeria until 1975. ...

since 1979. She was promoted to be a Professor in 1991. Braide's research interests focuses on disease control particularly operational research, impact assessment of interventions, rapid assessment methods in mapping diseases and community initiatives in disease control. Between 1988 and 1998, Braide was Zonal Facilitator (South East), Nigerian Guinea worm Eradication Programme, and later joined the World Health Organisation / Federal Government of Nigeria Guinea Worm Eradication Certification Committee until 2013 when Nigeria was certified guinea worm free. Braide coordinated

Anglophone The English-speaking world comprises the 88 countries and territories in which English is an official, administrative, or cultural language. In the early 2000s, between one and two billion people spoke English, making it the largest language ...

teams for African Programme on Onchocerciasis Control (APOC), multi-country impact assessment of onchocerciasis control activities in

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

and

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

. She was a member of the TDR/APOC team that developed RAPLOA, a rapid assessment tool for determining prevalence of Loa loa for quick identification of communities in areas co-endemic for onchocerciasis and loaisis that are at high risk of severe adverse reactions to Ivermectin treatment. In 2001, Braide was a member of WHO/APOC Technical Consultative Committee (TCC), and in 2003, she assumed the chairmanship position of the committee until 2006. Between 2003 and 2006, Braide served as a member on committee of Mectizan Expert. From 2007 to 2018, she served as member (Alternate Chairman) of National Steering Committee, Nigerian Neglected Tropical Diseases Programme. In 2018, Braide was appointed Chairman, Technical Advisory Committee, Cross River State Neglected Tropical Diseases Programme. She was a member of the Board of Trustees of Sightsavers for eight years and was the chair of the Technical Advisory Group (TAG) (the 4 year Sightsavers)

DFID The Department for International Development (DFID) was a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the government of the United Kingdom, from 1997 to 2020. It was responsible for administering foreign aid ...

funded NTD UNITED project that ended in 2019. Braide is Chairman of the Board of Trustees for

Nigeria. She was the pioneer

Vice Chancellor A vice-chancellor (commonly called a VC) serves as the chief executive of a university in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Kenya, other Commonwealth countr ...

of the Federal University of Technology, Lafia (2011 - 2016) and Vice-Chancellor Cross River University of Technology (CRUTECH), Calabar (2004 - 2009). She is also one of the board members of Nigeria's foremost non-governmental organization, Society for Family Health, Nigeria. Braide is a recipient of Jimmy/Roslynn Carter Award for outstanding dedication and achievement in the eradication of guinea worm in Nigeria. In 2000, she received Cross River State 2000 Millennium Award. In July 2010, Braide received a Nigerian national honor award of Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic (OFR), for her contribution to disease control in Nigeria conferred to her by the Nigerian president. In 2020, she was named President-elect of the

. She became the first woman to be President of the Academy in January 2021, succeeding Professor Kalu Mosto Onuoha. Braide has already been the Academy's vice-President.

Awards

* Cross River State 2000 Millennium Award * Jimmy/Roslynn Carter Award * Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic

References

External links

* – List of publications {{DEFAULTSORT:Braide, Ekanem Ikpi 1946 births Living people People from Cross River State Cornell University alumni Vice-chancellors of Nigerian universities Obafemi Awolowo University alumni St Anne's School, Ibadan alumni