How I Met Professor Muhammad Ali Pate, Stanford Professor Recalls First Encounter with Nigeria’s Health Minister

John Nwokocha, Editor, and Juliet Jacob in Abuja, Nigeria

Stanford University’s pioneering SPARK Translational Research Programme has unveiled plans to find solutions to cancers and other critical health challenges in Nigeria and the African continent as a whole.

SPARK Global founder and co-director, Professor Daria Mochly-Rosen, made this disclosure against the backdrop of the organisation’s first conference in Nigeria, set to take place next year.

The Chemical and Systems Biology professor, Mochly-Rosen in the same breath speaks about strategies to expand efforts to accelerate local solutions to health challenges in Nigeria and Africa.

The SPARK Global team lead, who unveiled this while speaking in an exclusive interview with Africa Health Report team, talked excitedly about her first encounter with Nigeria’s Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Ali Pate.

Mochly-Rosen narrated that their paths first crossed before the COVID-19 pandemic, when Pate was at Harvard University and also working with the World Bank.

Hear her: I connected with Muhammad Ali Pate before COVID, when he was still at Harvard and associated with the World Bank. We hit it off. When I heard he’s now a minister in Nigeria, I contacted him and said, “Nigeria doesn’t have SPARK.” We now have SPARK in about 12 African countries. Given his involvement in healthcare and expertise in epidemiology, this is such a unique opportunity.

Speaking further, she said the programme aims to enhance access to healthcare on the continent.

Daria Mochly-Rosen described the upcoming Nigerian engagement as a “reverse approach”, saying, “This is the first time we initiated contact with a country to start SPARK. Usually, it’s the other way around.”

The SPARK programme aims to accelerate translational research and bridge the gap between academic discoveries and real-world health solutions. It is currently active in around 12 African countries.

Mochly-Rosen described Professor Pate’s appointment as an “opportunity” for Nigeria, given his expertise in healthcare and epidemiology.

“I met a very impressive scientist from Zimbabwe, Colin Mazari Membra, and when he told me what he’s doing there, I was so inspired to help him. And I kept realising, throughout the world, that smart is not geographically restricted. When good ideas emerge — in Nigeria or elsewhere — they deserve to live”, she said.

Full interview coming…