Onyema Ogbuagu, an expert in infectious diseases and a Nigerian-born doctor, was central in Pfizer’s development of a COVID-19 vaccine.
He is an associate professor at Yale School of Medicine and leads the HIV clinical trials program within the Yale AIDS Program.
Through his work, he played a big part in getting one of the first COVID-19 vaccines to the public, helping millions around the world face the pandemic with new hope.
Early Life and Education
Ogbuagu was born on June 20, 1978, in New Haven, Connecticut. His father, Chibuzo Ogbuagu, served as a vice-chancellor of Abia State University in Nigeria, and his mother, Stella, is a sociology professor. He also has a twin brother, Chibuzo Ogbuagu II, who became an engineer.
Onyema Ogbuagu attended Auntie Margaret International Primary School in Calabar and went on to Federal Government College in Okigwe, Imo State, where he completed his secondary education by age 15. He graduated from the College of Medical Sciences at the University of Calabar, Nigeria, in 2014 and completed a medical internship at Ebonyi State University Teaching Hospital in Abakaliki, Nigeria.
After his work in Nigeria, Ogbuagu returned to the United States and completed another internship at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai’s Elmhurst campus. He completed his residency and chief residency at Mount Sinai by 2010.
In 2012, he finished an infectious diseases fellowship at Yale School of Medicine and joined their faculty as an assistant professor. He currently serves as an associate professor in the Department of Internal Medicine, specialising in infectious diseases.
He has spent years focused on researching HIV/AIDS and leading studies across the U.S. and Africa.
His dedication to public health led him to work in Rwanda, where he mentored doctors and junior researchers on local projects, especially on issues like HIV/AIDS and antimicrobial resistance.
Additionally, he has collaborated with the Liberia College of Physicians and Surgeons.
Role in Developing the COVID-19 Vaccine
When the COVID-19 pandemic began, Onyema Ogbuagu shifted his focus from HIV/AIDS research to COVID-19 vaccine development. He became the principal investigator for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine trials at Yale, managing studies for both adults and children.
His work was instrumental in the vaccine receiving emergency use authorisation in 2020 and full FDA approval in 2021. Besides his role with the Pfizer vaccine, Ogbuagu also led Yale’s trials for COVID-19 treatments, including the Remdesivir SIMPLE trials, which evaluated the antiviral drug’s effectiveness in moderate and severe COVID-19 cases.
The Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA vaccine trials were conducted at around 150 sites, each managed by a principal investigator.
Ogbuagu also took on the role of principal investigator for the Phase 2b trial of a new COVID-19 vaccine candidate from Sanofi-GlaxoSmithKline. He led Yale’s site for several COVID-19 treatment studies, including the Remdesivir SIMPLE trials, which tested how effective Remdesivir was for treating moderate and severe COVID-19 cases.
Before these COVID-19 studies, Ogbuagu focused on HIV research. He led phase 2 and 3 trials for new antiviral treatments to check their safety and effectiveness, as well as trials for HIV prevention.
Awards
In 2015, Ogbuagu was named a Fellow of the American College of Physicians. Two years later, in 2017, he was honoured with the Steve Huot Faculty Award for Dedication and Excellence from Yale’s Internal Medicine Primary Care Program.
He also received the Gerald H. Friedland Prize in both 2014 and 2019 from the Connecticut Infectious Diseases Society for his outstanding international research presentations. On February 18, 2020, the Rwanda College of Physicians awarded him for his efforts in combating infectious diseases.
Personal Life
Ogbuagu is married to Grace Igiraneza Ogbuagu, who is a nephrologist and a member of the International Nephrology Society.
