Department of Immunology

Professor Olatunbosun G. ARINOLA

Departmental Head

Department of Immunology

Background: The upgrading of the Immunology Unit under the Department of Chemical Pathology was approved by the Senate of the University of Ibadan. The then Immunology Unit was established in 1965 as a World Health Organisation Research and Training Center in Immunology for attendees from African countries and beyond. In 1972, the Center was taken over by the University of Ibadan where Postgraduate Diploma or Certificate in Immunology was awarded. These courses in Immunology folded up when the M.Sc. degree in Chemical Pathology started in the Department and the courses in Immunology became components of Master’s degree programme in the Department of Chemical Pathology. However, the field of Immunology as an inter-disciplinary science has continued to develop at a rapid pace and numerous advancement/techniques have evolved. Consequently, in line with the global trends, University of Ibadan upgraded the Immunology Unit in the Department of Chemical Pathology to an independent Department of Immunology.

Teaching: (a). The new policy of University of Ibadan as a post-graduate institution provides training for staff of other institutions. In line with this, Immunology Department trains postgraduate students in these programmes M.Sc, M.Phil, Ph.D and M.D. to individuals from life science departments within and outside Nigeria who may eventually choose Immunology as a career or who may find a knowledge of Immunology useful in their fields of specialty. In addition, the Department teaches different aspects of Immunology to undergraduate students in Medicine & Surgery, Dentistry, Biomedical Laboratory Sciences and Environmental Health Science.

Research: Immunology is a flowering science where constantly expanding immunological techniques are required for a wide variety of investigative work in diagnosis and research. Previous researches in the then Immunology Unit were on immune responses during ageing and pregnancy, cancer, tuberculosis, HIV, schistosomiasis, malaria, metabolic syndrome and malnutrition. Presently investigations have extended to asthma and household air pollution, vaccine efficacy/ antisera production, histocompatibility cross-matching, microbiomes and DNA methylation.

Existing Research Support: National Institute of Health, USA; MEPIN-J, Nigeria; Thomas Bassir Biomedical Foundation, Nigeria; LuLi, and CAAPA, USA.

External Collaborators: University of Chicago, USA and Institute of Immunology, Luxembourg