About 40 years ago, I was the survivor of a foodborne illness. I was under the age of five, and I really don’t remember much about that time of my life. But my mother has told me the story of how I was revived by a pediatrician named Professor O. Ogundipe (of blessed memory) of the Children’s Ward at the Lagos (Nigeria) University Teaching Hospital. Thanks to his intervention, I have lived and found a life and livelihood in science.
This experience did not, however, inform my choice of career and field of study. I am currently a lecturer and researcher in the Department of Microbiology at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. It is by fate and curiosity that I have found myself in the study of fermented foods and microorganisms.
Foodborne illness continues to be one of the leading causes of death in children below the age of five in rural areas of most regions of sub-Saharan Africa.
Working in the area of maternal health and child development, as a food microbiologist I am working on how to use traditional fermented foods to control food-borne illness, the utilization of plants as palliative towards the treatment of diarrhea, and the safety issues related to the preparation and preservation of traditional foods.
Even though I lack the personal memories, learning of my own brush with death due to contaminated food has served to enhance my studies, increase my awareness of foodborne disease, and strengthen my willingness to help anyone who finds themselves in such a condition.
