Program Leadership
Dr. Samuel Davis, Director, Administration and Operations
Dr. Davis joined the Walter Reed Program-Nigeria (WRP-N) in September 2022 as the Director of Administration and Operations. He brings with him wealth of experience amassed from a number of military, government, public and private-sector operations and finance roles ranging from nuclear-submarine logistics for the US Navy, clinical research grants management at St Georges Hospital Medical School, London, UK, clinical grants, contracts and finance operations at the Naval Medical Center Portsmouth, Virginia, to managing the operations of a private fly-fishing company based out of Kenya.
Prior to joining WRP-N, Dr. Davis was the Chief of Program Operations and Finance for the Infectious Diseases Clinical Research Program (IDCRP), based in the Department of Preventive Medicine and Biostatistics at USU, which conducts important military cohort-based clinical infectious disease research in collaboration with partners from the Department of Defense (DoD), academia, government, and industry.
In addition to Dr. Davis’s operational and finance resume, he is also an experienced evolutionary biologist whose Ph.D. thesis focused on the morphology, systematics and evolution of early jawed vertebrates. He has published in various peer-reviewed scientific publications including the prestigious journal, Nature. Dr. Davis is also a Fellow of the Linnean Society, the world’s oldest society for biological inquiry established in the 18th century.
Abdulwasiu Bolaji Tiamiyu, Director, Clinical Research Center
Dr. Tiamiyu is the Director of the Walter Reed Program-Nigeria Clinical Research Center (CRC), HJFMRI Ltd/Gte, in support of the Emerging Infectious Diseases Branch (EIDB) and the U.S. Military HIV Research Program (MHRP) of the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research.
Dr. Tiamiyu has a broad background and expertise in Infectious Disease and Tropical Medicine, Clinical Research, and Global Health that spans over 15 years. He serves as Principal Investigator (PI) on multiple protocols and has supported research capabilities into a range of infectious diseases including Lassa, Mpox, HIV, and COVID-19.
Previously, he served as the co-PI for an Ebola Viral Disease (EVD) Vaccine Clinical Trial, and as the coordinator of a US DoD flagship protocol of record – the Joint West Africa Research Group (JWARG), a program aimed at building bio-preparedness, and surveillance capabilities across countries Africa to prepare regional health systems for future infectious diseases outbreaks.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Tiamiyu also served as a member of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) ministerial experts task force on COVID-19.
Yakubu Adamu, Deputy Director, Public Health and Policy
Dr. Yakubu Adamu is a public health physician with 20 years of experience in public health practice, including approximately 15 years of experience in implementing HIV/AIDS programs at the community, sub-national and national levels. He began his clinical HIV medicine career at FHI360 as part of the team that pioneered HIV/AIDS service delivery at secondary health facilities in Nigeria, increasing access to HIV treatment to over 100 treatment facilities in 2008.
Dr. Adamu joined USAMRD-A/N/WRAIR Nigeria in 2009 to provide technical leadership to the NMOD HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment Program. During this period he has supported the development of several technical documents, among which are NMOD’s HIV/AIDS Five Year Strategic Plan, the National HIV Vaccine Plan, and the Nigerian HIV Treatment Guidelines, among others. He has received awards from The AIDS Supports Organization, European AIDS Clinical Society (EACS), the Geneva Foundation for Medical Education and Research, and from the University of Witwatersrand to improve his clinical and research skills in HIV/AIDS management.
Dr. Adamu belongs to numerous professional and technical working groups including the Association of Public Health Physicians of Nigeria, National Postgraduate College of Public Health, National ART Task team, New Prevention Technologies TWG, and the USG 2nd 90 TWG.
Jegede Feyisayo Ebenezer, Deputy Director, Defence Reference Laboratory
Jegede Feyisayo Ebenezer, a licensed Medical Laboratory Scientist (MLS) currently serves as WRP-N’s Deputy Director at the Defence Reference Laboratory, Abuja. He comes with more than two decades of experience in clinical laboratory settings, project implementation, and management.
Dr. Feyisayo whose experience spans all three levels of the health care system in Nigeria started his career at the Department of Hematology and Blood Transfusion Services, Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano, and in 2007 he joined the Family Health International (FHI)-360 where he supervised 26 ART laboratories and 3 PCR Laboratories across seven Nigerian states.
He obtained a Ph.D. in Human Parasitology with a focus on HIV/AIDS and Malaria, Post Graduate Diploma (PGD) in Epidemiology and Biological Sciences from the Bayero University Kano. He is also a fellow of the Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria (FMLSCN) with a Hematology and Blood Transfusion Services specialty.