Commonwealth Scholarships in the UK are funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID). An important selection criterion is the potential contribution that you will make to international development if you are awarded a scholarship.
How your proposed study relates to a particular development challenge or need at the global, national, or local level
How your proposed study relates to development issues and challenges in your sector ...
Cancer is increasingly striking populations in low-resource settings, due to rising longevity and other risk factors. Around 70 percent of the 8.8 million cancer deaths that occurred globally in 2015 were in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs. The forecast is grim, with the WHO predicting the number of new cases will increase by more than 50 percent by 2030. Cancer is responsible for 72,000 deaths in Nigeria every year, with an estimated 102,000 new cases of cancer annually (Globocan 2012). With cancer becoming a major public health concern, the economic impact is significant and increasing, with huge negative implication to the health care system and society.
Against this background, the Nigerian Government, established and rolled out the 'National Cancer Control Plan (NCCP) to stem the tide of cancer, as to how the nation envisions cancer control efforts, with a mission and objective of reducing the incidence and prevalence of cancer in Nigeria. This Plan is a product of extensive cross-sectoral collaboration involving the government, academia, bilateral and multilateral organizations and civil society. The recent plan is for 2018-2022.
Among the goals is to increase research activities in cancer control and to create a systemic framework for dissemination of national and international cancer research in Nigeria. Strategies include, increase in cancer research capacity, establishment of Center of excellence in Cancer research and treatment, increase in funding for Cancer research, among others.
This positive drive made my alma mater, Faculty of Pharmacy (through my mentor, Prof Isa Hussaini, University of Maiduguri) established a research team and laboratory dedicated to cancer research, involved in ethnopharmacological screening and chemical evaluation of indigenous medicinal plants as potential leads and molecules for Cancer drug discovery and treatment. Preliminary findings, established positive and promising results, some of such findings were presented, both in local and international seminars (including, University of Sussex). The team are in continuous trend to actualize the center, as a Center of excellence in Cancer research. However, factors including lack of fund, skill manpower, advance laboratory equipment, political will, among others, halts the fruition of such promising work.
With an MSc in Cancer Pharmacolgy, the acquired knowledge, the acquisition of broad research and analytical skills, will developed me in providing novel applications, constructive inputs, thrust, broad perspective related to cancer research. This will allow me provide a progressive and robust continuous environment in my alma mater cancer research initiative, by bridging the gap in skilled manpower and collaboration, helping them becoming frontiers in cancer research. By establishing a center of Excellence cancer research, patenting the lead molecules, channeling them into process of clinical trial and drug development, in collaboration with multi-national Pharma industries and research institution, will include my makers for impact assessment, and intend to achieve them in 4 years.
This will in turn, buttress the goals and mission of the country's cancer control efforts, through increasing cancer research capacity in research agencies and institutions and also an added value for innovation and implementation of good practices for promotion of science and development.
Provide a statement explaining:
How your proposed study relates to a particular development challenge or need at the global, national, or local level
How your proposed study relates to development issues and challenges in your sector ...
Cancer is increasingly striking populations in low-resource settings, due to rising longevity and other risk factors. Around 70 percent of the 8.8 million cancer deaths that occurred globally in 2015 were in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs. The forecast is grim, with the WHO predicting the number of new cases will increase by more than 50 percent by 2030. Cancer is responsible for 72,000 deaths in Nigeria every year, with an estimated 102,000 new cases of cancer annually (Globocan 2012). With cancer becoming a major public health concern, the economic impact is significant and increasing, with huge negative implication to the health care system and society.
Against this background, the Nigerian Government, established and rolled out the 'National Cancer Control Plan (NCCP) to stem the tide of cancer, as to how the nation envisions cancer control efforts, with a mission and objective of reducing the incidence and prevalence of cancer in Nigeria. This Plan is a product of extensive cross-sectoral collaboration involving the government, academia, bilateral and multilateral organizations and civil society. The recent plan is for 2018-2022.
Among the goals is to increase research activities in cancer control and to create a systemic framework for dissemination of national and international cancer research in Nigeria. Strategies include, increase in cancer research capacity, establishment of Center of excellence in Cancer research and treatment, increase in funding for Cancer research, among others.
This positive drive made my alma mater, Faculty of Pharmacy (through my mentor, Prof Isa Hussaini, University of Maiduguri) established a research team and laboratory dedicated to cancer research, involved in ethnopharmacological screening and chemical evaluation of indigenous medicinal plants as potential leads and molecules for Cancer drug discovery and treatment. Preliminary findings, established positive and promising results, some of such findings were presented, both in local and international seminars (including, University of Sussex). The team are in continuous trend to actualize the center, as a Center of excellence in Cancer research. However, factors including lack of fund, skill manpower, advance laboratory equipment, political will, among others, halts the fruition of such promising work.
With an MSc in Cancer Pharmacolgy, the acquired knowledge, the acquisition of broad research and analytical skills, will developed me in providing novel applications, constructive inputs, thrust, broad perspective related to cancer research. This will allow me provide a progressive and robust continuous environment in my alma mater cancer research initiative, by bridging the gap in skilled manpower and collaboration, helping them becoming frontiers in cancer research. By establishing a center of Excellence cancer research, patenting the lead molecules, channeling them into process of clinical trial and drug development, in collaboration with multi-national Pharma industries and research institution, will include my makers for impact assessment, and intend to achieve them in 4 years.
This will in turn, buttress the goals and mission of the country's cancer control efforts, through increasing cancer research capacity in research agencies and institutions and also an added value for innovation and implementation of good practices for promotion of science and development.