Dr Akpan Samuel Nsikan is an epidemiologist, early career researcher and a PhD candidate (Infectious Diseases Ecology) at Wageningen University & Research (WUR), Netherlands.
He is also a doctoral research fellow at the African Center of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases (ACEGID), Nigeria, and One Health Centre for Africa (OHRECA) at ILRI, Kenya.
A 2021 alumnus of the sustainability centre of the prestigious Lagos Business School (LBS) Nigeria, he has received the 2017 Africa Young Water and Sanitation Professionals research grant for an innovative study he designed on antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs) from water sources in Southwestern Nigeria, funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). He is also a 2022 recipient of the Alliance doctoral fellowship funded by the government of Germany through Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ).
His work experience cuts across clinical practice, field epidemiology & research, working in national and international organizations such as the World Bank Regional Disease Surveillance Systems Enhancement (REDISSE), Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC/FMARD), and the non-governmental sector.
His career is focused on research to solve global health issues using genomic epidemiology, for a better understanding and control of emerging zoonotic infectious diseases. His current research investigates the human health risks associated with wildmeat in African metropolitan cities of Nairobi (Kenya) and Lagos (Nigeria).
Dr Akpan is also a lecturer and teaches Veterinary Epidemiology, Public Health & Preventive Medicine courses at the Joseph Tarka University (formerly Federal University of Agriculture), Makurdi, Nigeria.