PROFILE: Mohammed Lamorde, IDI Health Economist
Born in Nigeria, Mohammed Lamorde, PhD was raised by a scientific innovator…his father. Dr. Abubakar Lamorde served as Director of the National Veterinary Research Institute in the tiny village of Vom, Nigeria. So the younger Lamorde came by his interest in medical research quite naturally.
His excellent performance at one of the country’s top high schools—King’s College Lagos—paved the way to his acceptance at the University of Ibadan, where he studied medicine. He quickly became the best student in pediatrics before earning his Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degree and turning his attention to graduate school.
Lamorde discovered a research project at the Infectious Diseases Institute in Uganda aimed at optimizing drug treatment for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria. He moved to Kampala to study under Dr. Ceppie Merry. His clinical pharmacology research on that project formed the basis of his PhD thesis at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland, which he defended in 2012.
“At the end of my PhD program, I saw an advert for the Sewankambo Post-doctorate Fellowship position,” explained Lamorde. This fellowship program facilitates African scientists’ transition into long-term research careers. “The timing was excellent, and I applied for that.” During the two years of the program, Lamorde conducted research in pharmacokinetics, health economics, and cost effectiveness. He mentored junior researchers, pursued and secured grants, and collaborated with leading researchers in his field.
One of them was Andreas Kuznik, the Pfizer Global Health Fellow who was completing a six-month fellowship at IDI in 2011. At that time health economics was a priority at IDI, and Kuznik conducted training sessions for a small team of staff there each week for six months. While none of the trainees had previous experience with health economics, the group worked on projects and successfully published the results of their hands-on learning in three international peer reviewed journals. Lamorde was part of that team, and the experience encouraged him to pursue health economics. Lamorde now serves as the head of IDI's Clinical Trials and Health Economics/Cost-effectiveness units.
The Bulletin of WHO published a paper authored by the team that demonstrated the economic value of HIV treatment to reduce mother-to-child-transmission of HIV. Lamorde and Kuznik believe that paper provided the economic justification that resource-limited countries like Uganda need to transition to strategies that result in fewer babies being born with HIV.
Lamorde believes he has benefited more than other IDI scholars from the Pfizer Global Health Fellows Program. While Kuznik is his closest research ally and partner in strengthening Health Economics at IDI, Lamorde worked with several other Pfizer Global Health Fellows on developing capacity to conduct clinical trials. He said “it’s unanimous” that the Fellows have had a very positive influence on the Institute. “They bring global best practices, and we quickly see the impact of their work on our day-to-day activities,” he explained.
Learn More:
- Pfizer Global Health Fellow Andreas Kuznik
- Reducing HIV Transmission from Mothers to Babies
- Evaluating the Cost-effectiveness and Budget Impact of Antenatal Syphilis Screening
- Pfizer Global Health Fellows Program
Read about other Pfizer Global Health Fellows' colleagues at IDI:
