Dr Okonko is a Virologist with over 12 years working experience on diagnosis and epidemiology of HIV and hepatitis viruses, respiratory, gastroenteritis, haemorrhagic fever and arthropod borne viruses in Nigeria. His current research focus is on genetic diversity and immunogenicity of viruses, drug resistance and tropism, all of which are highly understudied in Nigeria. He is a Fulbright Visiting Researcher at the New York University School of Medicine, USA, and a Fellow of the African Doctoral Dissertations Research Fellowship (ADDRF) on HIV, and have had several short-term visits to United States, Canada, Germany, Italy, Portugal, South Africa among others. Currently, he is an Associate Editor of the Scientia Africana Journal of the University. He has collaborated on several research activities nationally and internationally. His researches on genetic diversity and molecular epidemiology of HIV (2014 to date) has led to the discovery of a new variant of the virus in Nigeria. To date, he has successfully supervised over 150 BSc projects, 10 Master’s dissertation, two PhD theses and currently supervising 12 PhD theses in virology. Dr Okonko is a winner of so many travel grants and scholarships/awards such as: 1) Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Global Health Travel Awards (2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2019 & 2020), 2) European & Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP) Scholarship (2013 & 2016); 3) National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID) Travel Grant (2014); 4) American Association of Immunologists (AAI) and The International Union of Immunological Societies (IUIS) Award (2015); 5) Hepatitis B Foundation Travel Grants (2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019); 6) African Doctoral Dissertation Research Fellowship (ADDRF) HIV Award (2016-2018); 7) Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) Grant (2012 & 2016); and 8) International AIDS Society (IAS) International Scholarship Award (2020).
