Biography

James Awotoye is an experienced Medical Laboratory professional and public health specialist with over a decade of expertise in TB, HIV/AIDS, and infectious disease diagnostics. He supports​ national TB programs, research activities, and collaborated with NTBLCP, STBLCP, and other key stakeholders. Skilled in specimen processing and a wide range of diagnostic tests—including TB smear microscopy, GeneXpert MTB/RIF, TB culture, and DST—he also leads training and technical support across Nigeria. James has played a central role in TB-EQA panel preparation since 2012 and is actively involved in GeneXpert system maintenance, installation, and national quality assurance capacity-building for TB diagnostics

Expertise

TB Diagnostics
Public Health

Key Impacts

Resistance patterns among treatment-naive drug-resistant people withTB in Nigeria

There is significant resistance to first-line and low resistance to second-line TB regimen among treatment-naive patients. Thus, it is critical to ensure 1st line genotypic DST (i.e., LPA) results are available prior to treatment initiation. Consequently, strengthening diagnostic capacities and access to genotypic DST services is still vital for effective TB control in Nigeria.

Source: Conference 2024