My name is Mrs. Chude Chidimma Florence, a lecturer at the Department of Zoology. I obtained a bachelor's degree in Zoology with a First Class. Throughout the past four years of my undergraduate studies, I have had the pleasure of exploring the field of zoology in relation to different types of zoonotic diseases and their mechanisms of occurrence in animals and transmission to humans. Despite the fact that I had to take up some menial jobs to fund my education and ease the burden on my parents, my determination and focus propelled me to graduate with first-class honors as the best-graduating student in the Department of Zoology. This led to my being offered a Graduate Assistant position by the university, where I also enrolled to pursue graduate studies at the Department of Parasitology and Entomology. In my master's degree, I received a distinction in public health parasitology. Since February 2019, when I took up an academic position at my current institution, I have assisted in supervising undergraduate students and directed their research. This has exposed me to various laboratory protocols and techniques. Besides the practical experience I acquired during my degree studies, I have also acquired numerous hours of hands-on and online training in the areas of cell and molecular biology, bioinformatics, and basic computational techniques. The techniques I currently apply in the lab at my institution include macromolecule blotting and probing (particularly northern and western); PCR (RT-PCR and qPCR), flow cytometry, and mass spectrometry. I also apply basic bioinformatics analytic techniques, which include the use of databases and resources, ontologies, Linux, genomics such as sequencing and annotation, the ensemble genome browser, HapMap, molecular evolution, and phylogenetic approaches. I have also published five international peer-reviewed journal articles. These publications have provided me with lots of experience in communicating my research findings to the public. I also presented preliminary results from my M.Sc. study at conferences and workshops prior to the publication of one of my study objectives in the International Journal of Mosquito Research (DOI: https://doi.org/10.22271/23487941.2022.v9.i1b.589). One of my remarkable publications in 2021 evaluated the "Willingness to Accept a Potential COVID-19 Vaccine in Nigeria" and was published in the American Journal of Medical Sciences and Medicine (DOI: 10.12691/ajmsm-9-1). The article has received over 2673 reads and has been cited 20 times by notable authors. Furthermore, I am also a part of a research group that secured a TETFund Institution Based Research (IBR) grant for the execution of our project titled "Antiplasmodial Activities of Decoctions and Ethylcellulose Encapsulated Essential Oil from Two Selected Nigerian Aromatic Herbs." I am passionate about novel research. Malaria, immunopathology of parasitic and zoonotic diseases, intestinal parasites, and other neglected tropical diseases are among my research interests. 

Chidimma Florence Chude Chude Chidimma Florence

Public Health Parasitology