Who We Are

FOUNDED BY PROFESSOR H. ORITSEJOLOMI THOMAS C.B.E 1974
The Thomas-Bassir Biomedical Foundation (TBBF) is a non-governmental organisation founded by Professor H. Oritsejolomi Thomas, CBE, CON, and FRCS in 1974, with the sole aim of advancing knowledge in human and animal health through research, for the benefit of the Nigerian people.
about us

About Us

Brief History

The Thomas-Bassir Biomedical Foundation was established in 1974 as the Wellcome Nigeria Fund. This was an initiative of its founding chairman, Professor H. Oritsejolomi Thomas (FRCS, CBE, CON) who was the chairman of the board of directors of Wellcome Nigeria Limited. Established by a trust deed, the fund is financed from proceeds of shares bequeathed to it by Wellcome Foundation, owners of Wellcome Nigeria Limited. Upon Thomas’ death in 1979, Olumbe Bassir—a professor of biochemistry of the University of Ibadan, and a member of the board of trustees of the fund — became its chairman.

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Founded in 1974

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Small Research Grants

Fast forward to 1994, Wellcome Foundation Limited sold its shareholding in Wellcome Nigeria Limited to the Rumon Group UK, whereupon the name of the company was changed to SKG-Pharma Limited. Upon the death of Professor Bassir in May 2001, David T. Okpako, a professor of pharmacology of the University of Ibadan and a member of the foundation’s board of trustees was elected chairman in August 2001. In October 2015, the trustees of the Foundation changed its name to Thomas-Bassir Biomedical Foundation (TBBF) and registered it with the Corporate Affairs Commission of Nigeria (CAC). Professor Oladele O. Kale a Distinguished Epidemiologist and Professor of Preventive & Social Medicine and a member of the foundation’s board of trustees was elected has the Chairman in January 2019 till date. Professor E. Olubunmi Olapade-Olaopa a member of the foundation’s board of trustees was elected as the Vice-Chairman in April, 2023 till date. The Trustees also deliberated on the name and organizational structure of the foundation as follows;
1. Name

The trustees considered suggestions from several sources about the name of the Foundation, some to the effect that ‘Thomas’— the initiator and first chairman of the fund — should come first in the name of the foundation. The Foundation eventually decided to rename it Thomas-Bassir Biomedical Foundation, to reflect the fact that the idea for the establishment of Wellcome Nigeria Fund in 1974 originated when Thomas was the chairman of the board of directors of Wellcome Nigeria Limited and that of the fund, and consolidated its activities for more than two decades.

2. Organizational Structure

The CAC required a constitution for the registration of a not-governmental Organization, which describes its governance. The Constitution of the Thomas-Bassir Biomedical Foundation as accepted by the CAC contains all the elements of the deed of trust of Wellcome Nigeria Fund of 1974 as revised in 1994, when the fund was renamed as the Thomas-Bassir Biomedical Foundation. The trustees have added one organ called “The Governing Board,” consisting of the Registered Trustees (Executive Board) and not more than four (4) other Nigerians. This provision enables the trustees to bring into the governance of the Thomas-Bassir Biomedical Foundation (TBBF) distinguished Nigerians who believe in the aims of the Foundation, and can act in an advisory capacity.

Leadership

List of registered trustees for Thomas Bassir Biomedical Foundation
The foundation’s leaders come from a broad range of backgrounds and have a diversity of expertise and experience. Our leaders are guided by the foundation’s mission to create opportunities for advancing knowledge in human and animal health through research, for the benefit of the Nigerian people
Professor O. Kale

Professor Oladele O. Kale

Chairman Board of Trustees
Chief Sunny Udenku

Chief Sunny Ndekwu

Trustee
Professor Emiola Olapade

Professor E. Olapade-Olaopa

Trustee and Vice-chairman
Prof. Grace Gbotosho

Professor Grace Gbotosho

Trustee
Mr Sydney Bero

Mr Sydney Bero

Board Member
Professor Iruka N. Okeke

Professor N. Iruka Okeke

Trustee
Prof. J. O. Olopade

Professor J. O. Olopade

Trustee
Professor Okpako

Prof. D.T. Okpako

Former Chairman
prof kale.jpg

Professor: O. O. Kale

B.A, M.B, BcH, BAC, FFPHM, FWACP, FMCPH, DPH, DIM.H, F.A.S

Board Chairman
The Thomas-Bassir Biomedical Foundation (formerly wellcome Nigeria Fund) which Thomas founded in 1974, remembers him for engaging a great idea namely, that there must be indigenous funding for research into health problems that face the Nigerian people, from his experience as a medical research scientist he recognized that local funding would have two important effects: (1) to contribute to solutions to health problems that are unique to the tropics, and (20 help to build and sustain health research capacity in Nigeria.
The Thomas-Bassir Biomedical Foundation (TBBF) is well positioned to entertain carefully thought out applications for research grant, from individuals, groups, in any field of human and veterinary and pharmacy. Many of these awards will be given in small grants category for preliminary exploration of a research idea or to enable the researchers to bring an aspect of on-going research to a conclusion.
Chief Sunny Udenku

Chief Sunny Ndekwu

B.A, M.B, BcH, BAC, FFPHM, FWACP, FMCPH, DPH, DIM.H, F.A.S

Trustee

Professor Olisa Sunny Ndekwu has expertise in Media and Communications. He graduated from the University of Ibadan and did his PhD at the University of Ibadan in 1983.

He has worked most of his life as a Teacher and a Communications/Media Practitioner. He was in Radio Nigeria for 2 years and spent another 18 years with the NTA Ibadan, where he was a Television Producer with multiple Award-winning Productions.

He transferred his Services to the College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, where he spent another 15 years as the Director of the Biomedical Communication Centre till he Retired.

He started the Mass Communication Department Undergraduate Programme at Ajayi Crowther University in Oyo in 2005. He lectured Communication and Media Courses, with a specialization in Broadcasting for more than 18 years. It was his contribution as an Andrian.

Most of his publications are Television Documentaries, some of which won Awards both locally and internationally.

He was invited by the US government with 17 other Journalists for training at the VOA, in WASHINGTON, DC. It was based on one of the Award-winning Programmes, he produced for the NTA Ibadan that won the 1st position in the Documentary Category during NIFETEP 88 TV Competition in Nigeria.

Finally, for all those who enjoyed TV drama, (KOKO CLOSE} was created by him and produced for 5 years in NTA Ibadan from 1982. It was Award Winning. It went on syndication to about 10 other TV Stations.

Other important publications include Research Reports for the WHO, APOC, and FORD FOUNDATION. He was a Communications Consultant for these Organizations for a period when he was in the College of Medicine.

Others include publications in Public and Environmental Health and Issues in Costing HIV/AIDS Prevention Initiatives with NISER {2002}, and Environmental Communication in the Dynamics of National Developments in the Journal of International Academic Research for Multidisciplinary. {2014}.

He has two essential PATENTS which include some significant LOGOS currently in use.
1. LOGO for RIVER BLINDNESS for the WHO.
2. LOGO for BABY FRIENDLY INITIATIVE, {A mother Breastfeeding her Baby on her left side breast}. funded by JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY. It was Award Winning for the College of Medicine, University of Ibadan.

Professor E. Olubunmi Olapade-Olaopa

Prof. E.O. Olapade-Olaopa

Short Citation of Professor Emiola Oluwabunmi Olapade-Olaopa FAS, FNAMed

Trustee
Emiola Oluwabunmi Olapade-Olaopa is a Professor of Surgery, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan and a Consultant Urologist at the University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria. A graduate of the University of Ibadan, his career spans surgery, urology, molecular biology, medical education, and health systems research and development. He is a Past Provost of the College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, and has been an Adviser on health-professionals training to several African countries, the WHO, and the United States and Norwegian Governments. He is currently a Member of the Councils of the West African College of Surgeons and the National Open University; Chairman of the African Medical Schools Association; and Chairman, Membership Section (Africa and the Middle-East), Societe Internationale d’Urologie. He is a Fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Sciences, Nigerian Academy of Medicine, and the Academy of Medical Specialties of Nigeria.
Prof. Grace Gbotosho

Prof. Grace Gbotosho

Medical & Health Sciences

Trustee
Prof. Grace Olusola Gbotosho studied Pharmacy at the University of Ife (Now Obafemi Awolowo University), Nigeria and obtained her M.Sc and Ph.D degrees in Pharmacology and Therapeutics at the University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria. She undertook part of her pre-doctoral training at the London School of Pharmacy, England. She is a Professor of Pharmacology and Therapeutics in the Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences at the University of Ibadan. She is the Pioneer Head of the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Ibadan and a Fellow of the prestigious Nigerian Academy of Sciences. Prof. Gbotosho heads the Malaria Research Laboratories, designated as a Centre of Excellence for Malaria Translational Research by the African Network for Drugs and Diagnostics Innovation (ANDi). The success of the research group is visible in the recorded extramural funding level, the establishment of a State-of–the-Art multidisciplinary malaria research laboratory that serves as a resource for research capacity building in infectious diseases in sub-Saharan Africa.The field site of the Laboratory is a designated sentinel site for clinical Antimalarial Drug Efficacy Testing by the Federal Ministry of Health, Nigeria providing data instrumental in supporting National Malaria Control efforts. Prof. Gbotosho’s career over the past 20 years has focused on Pharmacology, applications in discovery of novel interventions (diagnostics and therapeutics) for infectious diseases and elucidation of drug resistance in malaria. She has collaborated with partners across Africa, Asia, UK and USA. She has led as PI and Co-PI on international training grants (WHO/TDR, WHO/MIM/TDR, WellcomeTrust, International Society for Infectious Diseases) for developing young investigators in sub-Saharan Africa. She has supervised and mentored over 40 MSc and 15 PhD students. Prof. Gbotosho has 105 articles in international peer-reviewed journals and has served as an adviser to WHO/TDR at various consultation meetings in Asia and Europe.
Professor Iruka N. Okeke

Professor Iruka N. Okeke

B.A, M.B, BcH, BAC, FFPHM, FWACP, FMCPH, DPH, DIM.H, F.A.S

Trustee
Iruka N Okeke is a Professor of Pharmaceutical Microbiology at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria and a Fellow of the Nigerian and African Academies of Science. Her research group uses microbiology, genetic and genomic methods to investigate the mechanisms bacteria use to colonize humans, cause disease and gain drug resistance. She also studies laboratory practice in Africa.
Iruka received B.Pharm. M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees from Obafemi Awolowo University (formerly University of Ife), Nigeria and post-doctoral training at the University of Maryland, USA and Uppsala University, Sweden. She has held Fulbright, International Federation for Science, Branco Weiss (Society-in-Science) and Institute for Advanced Studies (Berlin) fellowships. Iruka is author/ co-author of several scientific articles and chapters as well as the books Divining Without Seeds: The case for strengthening laboratory medicine in Africa (Cornell Univ Press) and Genetics: Genes, Genomes and Evolution (Oxford Univ Press). She editor-in-chief of the African Journal of Laboratory Medicine.
Prof. J. O. Olopade

Professor J.O. Olopade

B.A, M.B, BcH, BAC, FFPHM, FWACP, FMCPH, DPH, DIM.H, F.A.S

Trustee
Dr James Olopade is a Professor of Neuroscience and Comparative Anatomy. He had his postdoctoral trainings in Neurotoxic ology as an International Brain Research Organization (IBRO), Alexander von Humboldt (AvH)/MacArthur Fellow, and as Grass Fellow in Penn State College of Medicine USA, University of Wurzburg, Germany, and Marine Biology Laboratory (MBL) Woodshole, USA respectively. He has served as Head, Department of Veterinary Anatomy, Dean Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, member IBRO African Regional Committee and President of Society of Neuroscientist of Africa. He is a Council member of International Society of Neurochemistry (ISN). Dr Olopade was Editor in Chief of the Nigerian Veterinary Journal from 2011-2015 and currently a Guest Editor of IBRO Neuroscience Reports. Dr Olopade’s research in centered on craniofacial anatomy, environmental neurotoxicology, developmental neuroscience and neurovirology. He research has been supported by funding from the UI Research Foundation, The World Academy of Science (TWAS), TETFUND, IBRO, ISN, and AvH.
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