Dr. Ben-Azu Benneth is a Neuropharmacologist, an Associate Professor and former Head of Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Medicine, Delta State University (DELSU), Abraka.  He is the Secretary General of the Nigerian Society of Pharmacologists and Experimental Therapeutics (NISPET) and a Fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Science Laboratory Technology (FISLT). Dr Ben-Azu Benneth obtained his undergraduate training in Science Laboratory Technology with specialization in Physiology and Pharmacology in 2010 from Delta State University, Abraka, in which he was the Best Graduating Student of his class. He obtained his postgraduate training (MSc: 2014; PhD: 2018) from University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria, and was trained in the field of neuropharmacology with emphasis on schizophrenia research.

In General, his research interest spans across schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, autism, and psychosocial stress. His recent research interests are focused on how multiple epigenetic hit-factors such as diets, stress and infection affect microglia reserves in health and in neuropsychiatric conditions. His research skills include behavioural sciences, immunophenotypying, golgi staining, immunohistochemistry and biochemical pharmacology, as well as manuscript writing.

DELSU Joint Canada-Israel Neuroscience and Biopsychiatry Laboratory where he serves as the principal investigator works on characterizing the function and regulation of the brain immune system using both biochemical and molecular approaches. Dr. Ben-Azu is a young investigator who has already published over 100 original articles in peer-reviewed neuroscience journals across many neurodevelopmental and neurogenerative disease areas, making him an authoritative reference in Nigeria. He is among the top 10th of authors in Nigeria among all disciplines from 2018-2023 and he is consequently ranked 1st at his home institution, DELSU, according to the SciVal Elsevier ranking. Dr Ben-Azu has received different travel grants, fellowships as well as a principal investigator grant such as Joint Canada-Israel Health Research Program funds research on the outcomes of microglial cellular senescence (https://www.uvic.ca/medsci/news/current/2022-11-14-grant-funds-microglial-cellular-senescence-outcome-research.php).

He is internationally recognized for his contributions in schizophrenia, psychosocial stress and gut microbiome. Based on his expertise, he serves on several committee member on grant review including schizophrenia international research society (SIRS) and editorial boards of international journals such as  International Journal of Clinical and Health Psychology (https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/international-journal-of-clinical-and-health-psychology/about/editorial-board), two of which he initiated the foundation, and he continues to pursue various research projects in partnership with different collaborators. Dr. Ben-Azu has attended different trainings within and outside of Africa, as an early career scientist from Nigeria.

Dr. Ben-Azu’s role in the scientific community extend beyond the research performed in the DELSU Joint Canada-Israel Neuroscience and Biopsychiatry Laboratory. His educational roles at DELSU also include actively working to improve research culture in an environment of scarce research funding, and he has dedicated himself to the mentoring of younger scholars, by providing several opportunities to secure the future of trainees, from undergraduate to postdoc levels, within LMICs from diverse geographical zones and ethnic group irrespective of tribal lines.