Samuel Abayomi Asala, MBBS (ABU); PhD (Sheffield); FASN; DINMA is a Professor of Anatomy (Neuroscience and Forensic Anthropology). With 38 years of university teaching, research, and administrative experience in Nigeria, the United Kingdom, Japan, Zimbabwe, and South Africa, he was the pioneer Dean of the Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences and later Provost of the College of Health Sciences, University of Abuja. He was also the pioneer President of the Neuroscience Society of Nigeria, an affiliate of the Society of Neuroscientists of Africa (SONA) and the International Brain Research Organization (IBRO). His research experience grew from the University of Sheffield where he obtained his PhD degree in Neuroanatomy in 1984 through the Institute for Medical and Dental Engineering, Tokyo Medical and Dental University where he undertook postdoctoral research in biocybernetics in 1988, to the Universities of Zimbabwe and the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg where he was a major contributor to the establishment of the Forensic Anthropology Research Units. He was a member of the medical curriculum development committees at the University of Zimbabwe and the University of the Witwatersrand. As an Associate Professor, he was the Head of the Division of Morphological Anatomy at the University of the Witwatersrand until 2001.
As a Professor of Anatomy, he became the President and Fellow of the Anatomical Society of Nigeria and pioneered anatomy teaching and curriculum development in two Nigerian Universities. He was a member of the National Universities Commission expert committee that set the Minimum Academic Standard for Anatomy Education in Nigeria in 2004. He was the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Anatomical Sciences (an organ of the Anatomical Society of Nigeria) and a member of the Medical Ethics Society of Nigeria. In 2012, he was presented with the prestigious Development in Nigeria Merit Award (DINMA) by People State Resource Magazine in recognition of his contribution to training medical and allied medical personnel in Nigeria. As Provost, he provided significant support for the development of Sickle Cell research efforts and the ultimate establishment of the Centre for Sickle Cell Disease Research and Training (CESRTA) at the University of Abuja. He has been and still is a supervisor of Master’s and Doctorate projects across several medical science disciplines. He was recently appointed Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Provost, at Margaret Lawrence University, Galilee, Delta State.