Biography
Prof. Matthias Onyebuchi Agbo graduated from Nnamdi Azikiwe University and following completion
of his Master of Science Degree (MSc) he became a staff member at University of Nigeria, Nsukka
where he was promoted to Professor in 2023. At the University of Nigeria, he became involved in
teaching of B. Pharm, MSc and M. Pharm program of the Department of Pharmaceutical and Medicinal
Chemistry. Since moving back to Nsukka in 2012 from Heinerich-Heine University Dusseldorf,
Germany he has continued to focus on the isolation and characterization of bioactive secondary
metabolites from Nigerian medicinal plants and their bioassay (antioxidant, antiviral, anticancer and
anti-inflammatory) studies. This is with a view to developing 'lead' molecules that can be used for
diseases caused by oxidative stress. Prof. Agbo is an active researcher with Research Gate point of 21.51
and h-index of 11.0. He is a member of the Society for Medicinal Plant and Natural Product Research
(GA) and an award winner of GA Travel Grants for PhD-students 2013.
Research Interest
Prof. Matthias Agbo has a strong background in the isolation and assessment of natural products from
plants, keen to learn about bacterial biosynthesis, he joined the Goss research group, School of
Chemistry University of St Andrews, United Kingdom for 6 months in October 2016, postdoctoral
fellowship funded by British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy (BSAC). During this period, he
has been learning about bacterial culturing, strain maintenance and storage, and the manipulation of
culturing conditions to elicit natural product generation.
Prof. Matthias Agbo was awarded a two year (April 20-March 22) postdoctoral fellowship by
Engineering and Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC) tiled: EQATA: Equitable access to
Quality Antibiotic Therapies in Africa. This fellowship has equipped him with recent skill in marine
microbial natural product chemistry.