Uche Veronica Amazigo

Uche Veronica Amazigo is a professor of Medical Parasitology and public health specialist. She is a fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Science who was elected into the Academy's Fellowship at its Annual General Meeting held in January 2015. In 2012, she won the Prince Mahidol Award for outstanding contributions to public health. She is best known for her research on onchocerciasis and her consequent contributions to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Background Uche Veronica Amazigo (née Onubogu) is a biologist, who is trained in public health, parasitology and specializes in tropical diseases. She is from Enugu, Nigeria. She went to the University of Vienna in Austria, where she received her Ph.D. in Biology and Medical Parasitology. She also was awarded an honorary Doctor of Science degree from the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa in 2013.

Career In her early career, Amazigo was a senior lecturer at the University of Nigeria in Nsukka, where she taught medical parasitology and public health. It was during this period in the late 1970s that she began studying onchocerciasis (river blindness) after encountering the disease during her travels around the area. She brought her findings to the WHO, where her studies were replicated. It is estimated that her CDTI strategy has resulted in the treatment of over 112.4 million people for onchocerciasis, 11 million people for malaria control, and 37 million people for the control of other diseases. Amazigo spent four years as the Chief of the WHO's sustainable drug distribution unit from 2001–2005.

Awards and fellowship While serving as a WHO Officer, she received the distinction of being named a Knight of the National Order of Burkina Faso.

Selected published works Amazigo has more than 55 publications in international peer-reviewed journals.