OgunniyiCredit: Adesola Ogunniyi
Adesola Ogunniyi has led many collaborative studies on patterns and determinants of dementia in Africa. In collaboration with others, the neurologist has produced data showing a lower incidence of dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease among the Yorubas, from Nigeria, than among African Americans.
Many younger researchers say Ogunniyi has had a strong influence on their career paths and is a worthy recipient of the Nature Mentoring Awards for West Africa, on 12 December 2024 in Abuja, Nigeria.
At the age of 30, you were a senior registrar when Benjamin Osuntokun, a global authority on the biochemistry of tropical ataxic neuropathy became your mentor.
His valuable input and trust were foundational to my career. In 1984, I was at a roadblock. I wanted to do postgraduate studies but had no funding. Prof. Osuntokun organized a WHO training fellowship in Neuroepidemiology for me at the National Institutes of Health, in the United States, under Bruce Schoenberg. My career trajectory changed from being a clinician to being a researcher, which was what I really wanted to do.
Many of the researchers you have mentored are now scientific giants in Nigeria and beyond. Why did you take up this role?
It started with the first ‘brain drain’ wave of senior academic staff leaving Nigeria in the 1980s. I consequently became the lead teacher of neurology in 1987 at the University of Ibadan rather early, at 34 years old. My experience with Prof Osuntokun showed me that if you mentor someone well, their career path will have a clear focus. They are more likely to get the necessary grants and funding to do good research and will get on to the world stage much faster than colleagues who are not mentored.
What makes a good mentor?
Be a good role model in everything – from being disciplined in meeting deadlines to your productivity and seriousness about your work. Work at a pace that leaves no one lagging. Foster a sense of independence that allows mentees to develop their own careers independently of you. I allow people to be mentored by me first. After our initial encounters they must write a development or work plan of their immediate, midterm and longterm goals, and the outcomes defining each. If they show enough seriousness about that, then we go to town and work on it. Though formal mentorship is the way to go, one needs to be more flexible, sometimes allowing for social interaction. A cocktail function at a conference, for instance, gives a mentor a chance to watch how a mentee interacts with others and see if they lack social skills that might need further work.
Can someone have more than one mentor, and what is your message to someone considering being a mentor?
Yes, that usually works, provided the mentors complement each other. One should be from your own broad field, while another can be from the humanities or economics, for instance. Mentoring is serious business not to be taken lightly. Be ready to give your best. There are no shortcuts. It is however extremely satisfying to see how mentees make their own mark, independent of you. Their development helps to further the reach of science.
Should research team leaders apply for training grants?
Yes. These are among the most important tools supporting better mentoring in low- and middle-income countries. They provide opportunities to develop students by focusing on their specific skills or topics of interest. I have used training grants to build capacity for interventional research in neurology, diagnosis and in medical education since 2012. Five of the 17 academic and resident doctors I mentored back then are now professors. Exposure during exchange visits and potential opportunities to do some research can be life changing, often leading to the foundational papers of someone’s career.
Do universities sufficiently reward good mentors?
No. It must be considered in the same way as good publication or teaching records when promotion opportunities come up. It is a form of service to the academic environment.
Do you also mentor undergraduates?
It’s been the greatest joy to do so through the College of Medicine Research Innovation Hub (CRIH) at the University of Ibadan. CRIH keeps growing among undergraduate medical students interested in research. It’s good to pick potential researchers very early and to guide them as such to hold conferences, to do research and to apply for travel grants and short-term fellowship opportunities.
