Prof Amidou Samie has received graduate training from the University of Yaoundé 1 in Cameroon, University of Zimbabwe, University of Venda, and University of Virginia, USA. He holds a BSc and an MSc degree in Biochemistry, a PhD degree in Microbiology and a Master of Public Health (MPH) from the University of Pretoria. Following his PhD qualification in 2008, he was appointed as Lecturer in the Department of Microbiology at the University of Venda where he subsequently served as Senior Lecturer and currently as Associate Professor. He was the first Y rated researcher at the University of Venda in 2009 immediately after his PhD graduation and his rating has recently been re-evaluated and updated to the C2 category. He has authored or co-authored 130 publications in peer-reviewed international journals on topics covering Genetics, Clinical Microbiology, Parasitology, Biotechnology, Water quality, and Tropical Medicine. He has also published 5 book chapters and has served as Editor for 2 Books on Tropical diseases and E. coli. He has given more than 150 lectures at both national and international conferences and has received the Vice-chancellor award for the best overall researcher at the University of Venda for 4 consecutive years. He has graduated over 20 MSc and PhD students. He has established collaborative projects with researchers from South Africa, USA, Japan, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Cameroon, Nigeria, and Zambia and received research grants from several organizations including the Water Research Commission (WRC), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Nationa Research Foundation (NRF), International Society for Infectious Diseases (ISID), Gates Foundation and UNESCO. He has served as an executive board member of the International Committee on Systematics of Prokaryotes, the Limpopo Health Research Committee, and the Research Advisory Forum of the University of Venda. He also serves as an external examiner for PhD, MSc and BSc honours projects from different institutions in South Africa and abroad. Professor Samie’s research has for the first time provided information on the molecular epidemiology and pathogenicity of emerging intestinal pathogens such as Cryptosporidium, microsporidia, E. histolytica, Campylobacter jejuni, Arcobacter butzlerii, Enteroaggregative E. coli and Clostridium difficile. Of particular interest to him is the study of E. histolytica which is a common cause of diarrhea among hospital attendees and HIV positive individuals. Professor Samie’s most recent research interest covers issues of pharmacogenomics and genetic susceptibility and is actively involved in the role of the Immune system’s genes on the occurrence of STIs and opportunistic infections among HIV patients. He is also interested in understanding the occurrence of steroid hormones in the environment and their potential impact on microbial diversity and Human health.
