Professor Folasade Mayowa Olajuyigbe was born and raised in Southwest Nigeria. She is currently the Director of Central Research Laboratory, Federal University of Technology Akure (FUTA), Nigeria. Prof. Olajuyigbe earned her B.Sc. in Biochemistry from the University of Lagos, in 1991, M.Tech in Applied Biochemistry from FUTA in 2002, and PhD in Biochemistry in 2009 under a split-site programme between the Centre of Excellence in Biocrystallography, Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Trieste, Italy and the Department of Biochemistry, FUTA, Nigeria. She is a distinguished scientist at the Department of Biochemistry, FUTA, Nigeria with expertise in Structural Biology, Enzyme Biotechnology and Environmental Bioremediation.
Prof. Olajuyigbe’s career highlights include her remarkable transition from Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) to academia in 2003 after spending five years on administrative role. She rose through the ranks from Assistant Lecturer to a renowned professor of Biochemistry in 2020. The journey underlines her dedication, hard work, and commitment to academic and scientific excellence.
Prof. Olajuyigbe as Principal Investigator (PI), heads the Enzyme and Environmental Biotechnology Research Group, the E-Biotech Lab, and has successfully supervised, trained and mentored several M.Tech and PhD graduates on globally relevant projects. Her research group has made significant contributions in structure-based drug design against HIV, microbial enzyme production, bioenergy, and environmental bioremediation with over 50 publications and about 1,000 citations of her work in high-impact factor international journals. Prof. Olajuyigbe is a Grantee and PI on International Centre for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering (ICGEB) -Collaborative Research Project (2021-2023) on Bioenergy, and TETFund National Research Fund Project on Environmental Bioremediation (2020 -2022) with international and national collaborations. Prof. Olajuyigbe won the prestigious US Fulbright Senior Research Scholarship in 2017 and was a Visiting Scholar at Rutgers University, New Jersey, USA from 2017 to 2018. She has an outstanding record of achievements in her field including several distinctions, national and international recognition / awards / fellowships, and research grants verifying her international reputation.
Prof. Olajuyigbe won the Seeding Labs Instrumental Access Award for the Central Research Laboratory, FUTA in January 2024. Remarkably, she won the 2023 FUTA Vice Chancellor Special Recognition Award of Excellence, exactly twelve years after winning the Vice Chancellor’s Special Recognition for Research Award in 2011. In February, 2024, Prof. Folasade Olajuyigbe won the Award of Excellence for being the Lead Paper Presenter at the 1st International Conference on Contemporary Issues in Coastal Environmental Sustainability, Olusegun Agagu University Leadership Academy, OAUSTECH, Okitipupa, Nigeria. She was an Associate of the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), Trieste, Italy for eight years (2009 – 2016). She is a two-time winner of the prestigious Schlumberger Foundation Faculty for the Future Fellowship for her Spit-site PhD research in the University of Trieste, Italy (2006 – 2008) and
Postdoctoral programme at the University of Florida, USA (2011 – 2012), respectively. She is a two-time winner of the prestigious International Foundation for Science (IFS) Sweden research grant (2004; 2011).
During her PhD programme, she won several awards including the Best Poster Award at an international conference on Trends in Enzymology in St. Malo, France (2008), Elsevier Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics Young Investigator Award (2008), and American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB) Graduate Travel Award (2007).
In 2021, she won the ICGEB Meeting grant and successfully organized an ICGEB Course titled “Laboratory Techniques in Molecular Biology and Enzyme Engineering for Sustainable Bioenergy: From Theory to Bench” for international early career researchers in 2022. Prof. Olajuyigbe, in January, 2024 also successfully organized a maiden edition of Annual Research Seminar of the Central Research Laboratory, FUTA for researchers and technologists which attracted participants from different parts of the country in 2024. Prof. Olajuyigbe has attended many national and international conferences where she gave poster and oral presentations on her research findings. Prof. Olajuyigbe currently serves as member of Editorial Boards for National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA) Journal and Frontiers in Molecular Sciences while she is a reviewer for over fifteen international journals. She belongs to several professional bodies including Nigerian Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (NSBMB), Nigerian Society for Experimental Biology (NISEB), American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB), Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World (OWSD) and Network of Nigerian Women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (NWiSTEM), amongst others. Prof. Olajuyigbe was internationally recognized as a role model for women in science, on 2016 International Women’s Day by the International Foundation for Science, IFS, Sweden. In similar vein, on November 2017, she was named one of the 10 Nigerian Women pulling their weights in the Sciences in the Nigerian Leadership Newspaper, and in March 2018, she was also announced as one of the 16 prominent Nigerian women that excel in Science and Research on the 2018 International Day of Women and Girls in Science on Silverbird Television. On 2024 International Women’s Day, Prof. Olajuyigbe was celebrated on LinkedIn by Life Science Nigeria, as one of the few women promoting and pushing the awareness of Life Sciences in Nigeria through Education, Research and Technology. Prof. Olajuyigbe serves as speaker, panelist and discussion facilitator on many international and national forums encouraging more participation and visibility of girls and women in Science and Technology through her NGO, Women’s Dignity Initiative Inc. (WDII), and other nonprofit organizations such as Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World (OWSD), and Network of Nigerian Women in STEM (NWiSTEM) where she is National ViceChairperson and Project Team Coordinator, respectively. With passion for the girl child, Prof. Olajuyigbe is exceptionally active in fighting gender barriers and serves as mentor to many younger women in STEM. Prof. Folasade Olajuyigbe is a committed member of the Anglican Communion, Church of Nigeria and she is happily married to Revd. Canon (Dr.) Ebenezer Olajuyigbe. Their marriage is blessed with children
