Melody Okereke

Melody
Okereke

University of Ilorin
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Biography

Melody Okereke is presently pursuing a Bachelor of Pharmacy Degree at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Ilorin, Kwara State. He has special interests in Pharmacy Education, Industrial Pharmacy, and developmental issues affecting the pharmaceutical industry. 

He holds a Diploma in Pharmacy Technician and a Diploma in Addiction Medicine from the University of British Columbia, Vancouver respectively.

Due to his high level of proficiency in research writing, Melody Okereke is a Certified Peer Reviewer licensed by the Elsevier Research Academy and a Search Strategist licensed by the International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications (INASP). He also holds certifications in:

1. Safe Prescribing from the University of British Columbia, Vancouver.

2. Good Clinical Practice from the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) Clinical Trials Network, USA.

3. Knowledge Management in Global Health Programs from John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, USA.

4. Public Health Research Ethics from the Swiss School of Public Health, Switzerland.

5. Good Governance in the Management of Medicines from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), USA.

Melody Okereke is an astute researcher with over 50 publications in international peer-reviewed journals and dailies. He has been featured in Nigeria’s leading dailies such as The Vanguard, Tribune Newspaper, Maritime First Newspaper, and recognized in India’s most censored newspaper, Eastern Herald Newspaper for his advocacy in the healthcare space.

He has also been accepted to present his abstracts at international scientific conferences including the:

1. 33rd Federation of African Medical Students (FAMSA) General Assembly and Scientific Conference in Kenyatta University, Kenya.

2. International Association for Youth Mental Health (IAYMH) conference, Brisbane, Australia.

3. INTEREST Conference on HIV/AIDS, Windhoek, Namibia.

Melody Okereke works as a researcher at the International Society for Infectious Diseases (ISID) and International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications (INASP).

In his 1st year of pharmacy school, Melody Okereke was the overall winner of the Universal Health Coverage Article Competition organized by the International Pharmaceutical Students’ Federation (IPSF) for over 350,000 pharmacy students globally in 2019. That same year, he was a Newsletter Guest at the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, University of Minnesota and was awarded a Diploma in Addiction Medicine by the University of British Columbia, Vancouver. That same year, Melody Okereke was nominated as the national pharmacy student of the year in Nigeria.

In his 2nd year of pharmacy school, he was and remains the first and only undergraduate student to have contributed two chapters in the Global Report of Pharmacy Education in sub-Saharan Africa which was published by the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) and co-authored by key stakeholders and policymakers in the global pharmacy space such as the President of the International Pharmaceutical Federation, WHO Director for Africa to mention a few.

That same year, he assumed the role of the Policy Coordinator at the African Regional Office of the International Pharmaceutical Students’ Federation (IPSF-AfRO) where he was responsible for the implementation of policies affecting pharmacy students in the African Region.

Currently in his third year of pharmacy school, Melody Okereke is the first and only undergraduate to have developed a framework for combatting Substandard and Counterfeit Medicines in the Nigerian drug market by Industrial Pharmacists- in collaboration with the National Chairman, Association of Industrial Pharmacists of Nigeria (NAIP); President, Industrial Pharmacy Section of the International Pharmaceutical Federation and the President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria. 

His career objective is to achieve professional excellence by building capacity that will give him the set skills to shine as an 8-star Industrial Pharmacist.

 

 

Research interests

Pharmacy Education; Industrial Pharmacy; Pharmaceutical Industry

Discipline
Pharmacovigilance