Augustine Odili started his academic career in 2007 at the Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Jos, where he was appointed in the Department of Medicine as lecturer 1. He later joined the College of Health Sciences, University of Abuja in 2009 as one of the pioneer faculty members in the Department of Internal Medicine. He rose through the ranks and was appointed a Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine in 2016 and honorary consultant cardiologist at the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, Gwagwalada. Having won the National Research Grant of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND), in 2016, he established the Circulatory Health Research Laboratory where he led a multidisciplinary research team with a research agenda that spanned from basic science through clinical science and epidemiology to implementation science. In addition to his research and academic roles in the university, he occupied various administrative positions including the Director, Research and Innovation, Deputy and later, Acting Dean, Faculty of Clinical Sciences. He is a visiting Professor to the Department of Medicine, University of Calabar and has served, at various times, as an external examiner to about six medical schools in Nigeria. He is a visiting Bernard Lown Scholar in Cardiovascular Health at Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston USA and a member of the faculty of the National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria.
Prior to his academic career, his educational training was decorated with excellence at each level. He passed his First School Leaving Certificate with distinction, and his West African School Certificate with distinction in all subjects, and graduated from the prestigious University of Nigeria with distinction in Medical Physiology and from the National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria as the Best part II and the best overall candidate in 2006.
Augustine’s research interest is focused on hypertension epidemiology and understanding the circulatory system dysfunction in diabetes mellitus and hypertension. He is the principal investigator of various large-scale research projects including REMAH (REmoving the MAsk on Hypertension), NIPREGH (Nigerian Population Research on Environment Gene and Health), HERALD (Heart of an African Living with Diabetes) and NSS (Nigerian Salt Survey). He is a member of many international research consortia including the International Database on Home Blood Pressure in relation to Cardiovascular Outcome (IDHOCO) and the NCD Risk Factor Collaboration (NCD-RISC). He serves as a member of various technical committees on non-communicable diseases for the Federal Ministry of Health and was a consultant to the World Health Organization (WHO) for the development of the National Guidelines for the Management of Hypertension in Nigeria. He has published over sixty (60) academic papers in high-impact local and international journals and has contributed to well over five chapters in refereed books. His research articles have been cited over a thousand times and have an h-index of 13 and an i-10 index of 16.
He is a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Clinical Hypertension, the Journal of Hypertension and the Nigerian Journal of Cardiology. He is currently the President of the Nigerian Cardiac Society, Vice President of the Nigerian Hypertension Society and President of the Society for Public Health and Social Development. He chairs the African Regional Advisory Group of the International Society of Hypertension (ISH) and was recently appointed a co-opted member of the ISH Council. He is a fellow of the American College of Cardiology, the European Society of Cardiology and the Nigerian Cardiac Society.
Prof. Odili has translated his research findings into highly impactful community development projects aimed at cost effective control of non-communicable diseases. The Community Action Against Non-Communicable Diseases (COMAAND), the Hypertension Scholars Advocate Initiative (HASI) and the Awkuzu Elderly Health Programme, have yielded tremendous impact towards the reduction of non-communicable diseases in Nigeria. In recognition of his contribution to the public health of his native community, the traditional ruler of Awkuzu, HRH IgweSir Prof. Charles Anikweze, appointed him into his traditional cabinet as a special adviser on health matters (Akanechendu). Augustine is happily married to Mrs Chizoba Odili, an Educational Psychologist and their marriage is blessed with children.