Top staff of Institute of Human Virology, Nigeria, make list of Changemakers: 100 Nigerians Leading Change, 2025
In a rare occurrence of fate, three staff of the Institute of Human Virology, Nigeria, Dr. Olayemi Olupitan, Dr Helen Omuh, and Ozumba Petronilla Jean, have become the first from the same organisation to be listed in “Changemakers: 100 Nigerians Leading Change” in the same year in the five-year history of the compendium.
Their nominations met the criteria set for listing among which is an individual who has led or participated in initiatives for the betterment of others and inspires others to engage in social development in their communities; and also who has made a significant impact on community and, through their work, exemplifies the core values of selfless service.
Dr. Olayemi Olupitan, Dr Helen Omuh, and Ozumba Petronilla Jean, are top management staff of the Institute in Nigeria. Their selection is also a testament to the IHVN’s immense contributions to addressing the HIV/AIDS crises in Nigeria in particular, and the public health sector in Nigeria, in general.
Dr. Olayemi Olupitan serves as the Project Director at the Institute of Human Virology, Nigeria, for the Global Fund Grant Cycle-7 TB & HIV grant, known as the TB-HIV Reach, Integration & Impact Project (N-THRIP) while Dr. Aderonke Vivian Agbaje is the Director of Programs – Special Projects and Chief of Party of the USAID TB-LON 3 Project at the Institute of Human Virology, Nigeria (IHVN).
TB-HIV Reach, Integration & Impact Project (N-THRIP) led by Dr. Olupitan is an initiative that focuses on the combined efforts to combat TB and HIV and plays a crucial role in transforming related programs under the leadership of the National AIDS and STDs Control Programme (NASCP), the National Tuberculosis and Leprosy Control Programme (NTBLCP), and the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA).
Within the Institute, Dr. Olupitan has held various positions, including Program Associate at the National Tuberculosis and Leprosy Training Centre (NTBLTC), Program Officer for TB/HIV, Regional Medical Officer/Senior Program Officer, Acting Regional Manager at the Lagos Regional Office, and Regional Manager at the FCT Regional Office. She also served as the Project Director of the ACHIEVE Rivers State ART Surge Project and, most recently, as Assistant Director at the PEPFAR Program Coordinating Unit. In this role, she led the coordination of states supported by PEPFAR-IHVN and their sub-partners, ensuring seamless program implementation for the Action to Sustain Precision and Integrated HIV Response towards Epidemic Control (ASPIRE) grant.
Dr. Olupitan’s leadership in significant health projects has consistently yielded positive outcomes, demonstrating her effectiveness and underscoring the vital role she plays in building, expanding, and improving project outcomes that deliver life-saving interventions to beneficiaries in Nigeria.
Dr Helen Omuh is the Director/head of the Prevention Care and Treatment (PCT) department of the Institute of Human Virology Nigeria (IHVN) based in Abuja, Nigeria.
Dr Omuh coordinates and leads the department in line with both national and international standards and ensures quality, evidence-based client-centered program implementation. The department has the core technical staff responsible for the implementation of programs across HIV, Tuberculosis, Malaria, Nutrition, Sexual and reproductive health, Food security, Immunization, and is also involved in implementation science and grants writing.
Her leadership role has contributed to expanding access to life-saving prevention, care, and treatment services throughthe rapid scale-up of programs and service decentralization; strengthening health systems through capacity building; and sustainable, resilient services through stakeholder engagement and an innovative client-centered model of services for better client outcomes that have been nationally adopted. The department has received 2 awards for service excellence.
On the other hand, Ozumba Petronilla Jean is a seasoned registered Medical Laboratory Scientist RF 1176 (with bias in hematology/chemical pathology) and a bio-banking expert with over 17years of experience in molecular laboratory techniques, capacity building, and establishing laboratory infrastructures. She has worked extensively on public health initiatives, project management, and laboratory system improvements in Nigeria and other African countries. For over ten years, she managed the H3A West African Regional Biorepository (I-HAB) at the Institute of Human Virology Nigeria (IHVN) before transitioning to lead IHVN’s Clinical Laboratory Service (CLS) department.
In this role, she oversees laboratory programs, implements laboratory strengthening and public health programs in Nigeria, and ensures that lab standards are met across supported sites.
The Institute of Human Virology, Nigeria (IHVN) was established in 2004 as an affiliate of the Institute of Human Virology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore in the United States of America.
It has grown to become a leading local non-governmental organization addressing the HIV/AIDS crises in Nigeria through the development of infrastructure for treatment, care, prevention, and support for people living with and those affected by HIV/AIDS but has now expanded its services to other infectious and non-infectious diseases including, cancer, tuberculosis, malaria and other diseases.
IHVN is structured to develop and maintain linkages with local and international organizations in collaborative ways that support the Government of Nigeria’s health sector strategic plans.
IHVN key technical and funding partners are the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
The Institute, which as of March 2006 was supporting seven treatment sites in five states in Nigeria including the Federal Capital Territory, now offers ARV services in 290 facilities, PMTCT services in 623 facilities, tuberculosis services in 170 facilities and HIV Counseling and Testing Services in 612 facilities under its ACTIONPlusUp project.
Also, through funding from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, MDR-TB, 13 treatment centers offer treatment for multi-drug resistant tuberculosis and 1830 facilities, malaria services.
All these facilities and treatment centers comprise primary, secondary and tertiary health centers in twenty two states. Eleven of the hospitals it supports are University Teaching Hospitals.
IHVN, which has expanded activities to meet the growing public health challenges in Nigeria, has grown into an organization of about 398 staff members, from initial staff strength of ten.
“Changemakers: 100 Nigerians Leading Change” is a biographical compendium biographical compendium that profiles outstanding Nigerians who, by their creative ideas or actions, illuminate the atmosphere with their incandescent ideas and creative work, providing solutions to the perennial challenges of Nigeria.
These Changemakers represent a streak of light in a country darkened by malfeasance, and it is their inspirational stories of change that are documented in this compendium published by Profiles & Biographies
The compendium containing the profiles of all those that made the sterling list is published in www.livesonline.ng, the media partners of Profiles & Biographies
