Anthony I Okoh
SAMRC Microbial Water Quality Monitoring Centre, University of Fort Hare
Biography
He started my research career as a graduate fellow in 1989 and became an Assistant Lecturer at the Obafemi Awolowo University in Nigeria in 1993 and rose through the rank to the post of a Senior Lecturer in 2001, a post he held until appointed Associate Professor of Microbiology at the University of Fort Hare in May 2006, and in January 2008 I was promoted Full Professor of Microbiology. In January 2009 he was appointed Head of the Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology at the University of Fort Hare. He hold a PhD degree in Microbiology and 10 diplomas in some aspects of Biotechnology and Molecular biology from reputable institutions on the continents of Africa, Asia, Europe and America. He have immense teaching, research and administrative experience in the University system. He was a member of Senate (as leader of Congregation) at the Obafemi Awolowo University in Nigeria, where He also served as a member of the Appointment and Promotion Committee of University. In 2002, He was elected for a two years term as President of Obafemi Awolowo University Staff Club. His research expertise is in the area of Applied and Environmental Microbiology with extended interest in Bioremediation, Water/wastewater quality and bioactive compounds research. He has been involved in various collaborations with eminent academics within and outside South Africa, and he review for over twenty international journals. He have also been a recipient of such awards as Postgraduate Fellowship Award, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile - Ife, Nigeria, 1990 - 1992; United Nations University Fellowship (1998); UNESCO Biotechnology Action Council Fellowship (2000), NRF Free Standing Fellowship 2005 and currently an NRF, MRC and WRC grantholder. He has published over 80 articles; several conference presentations; and nucleotide sequences deposited in the genebank in my academic career of over two decades, nine of which was as a senior academic. Within the last four years, I have won seven research grants made up of four from the NRF and one each from the Medical Research Council, Water Research Commission and the Alliance for the Prudent Use of Antibiotics (international) studies on water/wastewater qualities; bioactive compounds; and reservoirs of antibiotic resistance. In 2007, He established my research group called Applied and Environmental Microbiology Research Group (AEMREG) in the Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology of the University of Fort Hare, and the group is currently made up of 18 research students at the Honours, Master's and Doctoral levels. He was rated as a C3 category (established researcher) scientist by the NRF in 2007 and in 2008 He won the University of Fort Hare Vice-Chancellor Emerging Research Award. In 2009, He was invited to represent South Africa in the international collaboration on the surveillance of reservoirs of antibiotic resistance (ISRAR) under the auspices of the Alliance for the prudent use of Antibiotics (APUA) with headquarters in the Boston, USA. My lab serves as the South Africa Country lab for this collaboration and He double as the South Africa Country Laboratory Manager. Also, in 2009 He was elected into the Executive Council of the South Africa Society for Microbiology (SASM), and in 2010 He was elected as Vice President of the Society.
Abstract
Abstract : Important challenges in water quality and the need for new approaches