Biography

Hey, I am Umar!

I am a Director of the Directorate of Linkages and International Partnerships at Sa’adu Zungur University (formerly Bauchi State University), strengthening international collaborations and research networks. Prior to this role, I served for three times as Head, Department of Anatomy and Unit Head of Human Genetics Informatics (HGI) at the same University. Additionally, I work as the Senior Technical Officer for Pathogen Genomics with Institute of Genomics at the Africa CDC, where I support and coordinate genomics surveillance programmes at national public health institutes and regional sequencing hubs across West Africa, strengthening outbreak response and disease surveillance efforts. My work informs policies on molecular diagnostics, genomic sequencing and public health interventions, ensuring that genomics-based approaches contribute effectively to disease control. I also served as a visiting Bioinformatics Scientist at the Molecular Genetics and Infectious Disease (MOGID) Research Laboratory of the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi, Nigeria. In this role, I specialize in analysing large-scale sequencing datasets and training scientists in bioinformatics and genomic data analysis as a certified Software Carpentry Instructor.

With a deep passion for public health genomics and precision medicine, I leverages high-throughput sequencing technologies such as RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq), single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-Seq), whole-genome sequencing (WGS), and whole-exome sequencing (WES) to understand complex biological processes for public health application. My research primarily focuses on:

  1. Cancer Genomics – Genomic profiling of bladder cancer and urothelial cell carcinoma, studying key molecular drivers, therapeutic resistance, and protein-protein interactions (PPI) in oncogenic pathways.
  2. Infectious Disease Genomics – Investigating oncolytic virotherapy mechanisms using Newcastle disease virus (NDV), particularly in persistent infections in cancer cells, and exploring pathogen genomics for public health surveillance.
  3. Genomic Surveillance & Bioinformatics – Developing computational pipelines for pathogen detection, and population genomics, applying Unix, R/Bioconductor, Python, and machine learning to analyze genomic data and inform public health decision-making.

Beyond my technical contributions, I am dedicated to training and capacity building in genomics and bioinformatics. I teach undergraduate and postgraduate students, develop bioinformatics and genomics curricula, and mentors early-career scientists, encouraging them to embrace coding and computational biology as transformative skills in biomedical research. Additionally, I am deeply committed to fostering open science and research transparency. In 2022, I founded the Open Science Community Nigeria (OSCN), a nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering a culture of openness, transparency, and collaboration in scientific research and education across Nigeria. I am also the founder of BioSeq, a platform dedicated to providing bioinformatics services, data analysis, and hands-on training workshops for researchers and institutions. I am an active community leader in open-source bioinformatics and serves as a Community Board Member of Bioconductor and Board Member of the International Network of Open Science and Scholarships Communities (INOSC). I am passionate about the opportunities to collaborate with experts to better understand and treat cancers and circulating pathogens with pandemic potential.

Interests

Skills