Nigerian Doctor, Ibrahim Idris Bags American Society of Haematology Award

Nigerian Doctor, Ibrahim Idris Bags American Society of Haematology Award

A Nigerian medical doctor with the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH), Dr. Ibrahim Musa Idris, has been selected by the American Society of Haematology (ASH) to receive the 2021 Global Research Award on Haematology.

A Consultant Hematologist, Idris is one of the 10 talented early-career investigators selected for the honour all over the world. The researchers represent Australia, Brazil, China, India, Italy, Portugal, Singapore, Switzerland and the United Kingdom (UK).

The hospital’s Chairman of Medical Advisory Committee, Prof Auwal Umar Gajida confirmed the development in a statement.

According to the statement, the award is designed to ease a difficult transition for researchers outside the United States and Canada by providing partial salary or other support during that critical period, allowing recipients to pursue research projects that will help them get to the next step in their careers.

Dr. Idris will receive research support for his project titled, “A Randomized Controlled Double-Blind Trial for Prevention of Recurrent Ischemic Priapism in Men with Sickle Cell Anemia: A Pilot Study.

He’s the first Nigerian to be selected for the ASH Global Research Award. In 2019/2020, Dr Idris was also one of the first two Nigerians to be awarded with a yearlong ASH Clinical Research Training Institute (CRTI) fellowship.

The ASH, which has existed for over 60 years, is the world’s largest professional society of haematologists dedicated to furthering the understanding, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disorders affecting the blood.

AKTH is 700-bed tertiary hospital affiliated to Bayero University Kano. The hospital provides advanced care to millions of population in Kano and neighbouring states, including countries like the Niger Republic, Chad and Cameroon.

Speaking about the program, the ASH President for the year 2021, Martin S. Tallman, said the recipients would conduct valuable research that would help increase haematology capacity in their home countries.

“Through the ASH Global Research Award, we are able to support the career growth of these future leaders and nurture collaboration across borders, fostering a diverse, global haematology research workforce,” he said.

While expressing happiness for the opportunity, Idris said, “I feel highly honoured by this recognition from ASH. As an early career investigator trying to cut my teeth to become an independent physician-scientist, this ASH award is a major springboard upon which I will leverage to achieve my overall career objective. I am grateful to ASH and my distinguished mentors: Dr. Michael DeBaun of Vanderbilt University, Dr. Arthur Burnett of Johns Hopkins University and Dr. Shehu Umar, for their untiring support. I am indebted to my employer AKTH.”

By PRNigeria