Head, Health Research Group, Centre for Biotechnology Research, Bayero University, Kano, Nigeria
Mansurah Abdulazeez started her academic career as a Graduate Assistant in the Department of Biochemistry, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Kaduna State, Nigeria, and rose through the ranks to become the first female Professor of Biochemistry at Bayero University, Kano, Nigeria, in 2021.
Her research is focused on the discovery of novel compounds from medicinal plants with potentials for the treatment of non-communicable diseases, particularly, cancer and hypertension. She is currently working as the Principal investigator on a project titled “Isolation of the anticancer and antihypertensive principle(s) of some selected Nigerian plants and the molecular basis of their activities” which won a competitive research grant under the National Research Fund Intervention by Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) of Nigeria.
She is a recipient of several research fellowships, travel awards and grants. She was a visiting scholar at the Natural Product Research and Development Centre, Faculty of Pharmacy, Chiang Mai University, Thailand where she started her research on cancer therapeutics. As a postdoctoral fellow at the Centre for Natural Products Discovery, School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, UK, her research was focused on the cellular and molecular mechanisms of cancer cell death. She was also a postdoctoral research fellow at the Institute of Neurosciences, University Miguel Hernandez, Alicante, Spain where she studied the molecular mechanisms of therapy resistance in triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) cells, in particular, epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in the progression to the metastatic state in cancer, under the tutelage of Professor Angela Nieto, a pioneer and world-renowned leader in this field.
M. Abdulazeez supervises MSc and PhD students, and has published several papers in reputable peer-reviewed journals. She has held several positions, chaired and facilitated many workshops on cell/tissue culture and molecular biology techniques. She is a member of the International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (IUBMB), Nigerian Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (NSBMB) and is the Welfare officer of Nutrition Society of Nigeria (NSN), Kano Chapter.
As a female academic from northern Nigeria, where girl-child education is still faced with significant challenges, she is considered a role model. She provides direct mentoring services to women and girls in her community. She also encourages and respond to the requests, support, advice and guidance to high school students at various symposia to ensure positive youth development. She is married to Nureini Jimoh (SAN) and blessed with children.
She is a mentor and role model to us women in academia I northern Nigeria (Kano).