Dr Olabisi Oduwole has been announced as the 2020 winner of the prestigious Aubrey Sheiham Leadership for Evidence-Based Healthcare in Africa Award by Cochrane. The award is managed by Cochrane South Africa (SA) and presented annually to an African researcher to support the conduct of a Cochrane Review focusing on a priority topic with impact on the health of people living in low- and middle-income countries. The winner is also expected to mentor a novice author from Africa during the review process and, in so doing, develop capacity in research synthesis on the continent.

The award includes attendance at an annual Cochrane Colloquium; costs of face-to-face meetings for the awardee and mentee; costs of travel for periods of dedicated work time; and a period of stay at Cochrane SA or another appropriate site to work on the review.

Dr Oduwole is from the Medical Laboratory Science at Achievers University, Nigeria. The review she will undertake is titled: “Antioxidant supplementation for sickle cell disease”. She will mentor Dr Bolarinwa. 

“The award will help my review team a great deal because we will be able to complete the review as scheduled. It’s my belief that our review topic is a very important one, and needs all the support and resources it can get,” said Oduwole. 

“My mentee, Dr Bolarinwa, and other co-authors are healthcare providers with little dedicated time left for us to work on our review. Furthermore, we live in different cities, most of my mentoring activities have been by phone calls and emails which includes taking pictures of our screens to explain a point,” she continued. “Because of the Aubrey Sheiham EBHC in Africa Leadership Award, we will be able to have at least two face-to-face meetings that are convenient for both of us dedicated only to working on our review. I am also happy that Cochrane South Africa will also support us all through the process of doing our review until completion.”