Rate My Professor Ernest Izevbigie

Professor Ernest E. Izevbigie is a Professor in the Faculty of Biological Sciences at Benson Idahosa University (BIU), Benin City, Nigeria. He served as Vice Chancellor of BIU from 2013 to 2018, succeeding in elevating the institution, including making it the first African university admitted to the National Academy of Inventors. Prior to these administrative roles, which began with his appointment as Deputy Vice Chancellor in 2011 upon returning to Nigeria, Izevbigie was Professor of Biology and Biochemistry at Jackson State University (JSU) in Mississippi, USA. He joined JSU as Assistant Professor in 1999, advancing to full Professor by 2008/2009, where he mentored undergraduate, master's, and PhD students in cell biology, biochemistry, and pharmacognosy.

Izevbigie earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Tennessee State University, Nashville, Tennessee, in 1986; a Master of Science degree from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, in 1988; and a PhD in Growth Biology/Biochemistry from Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, in 1996. He completed postdoctoral training in cancer biology at the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, in 1999. His primary research specialization is phytochemotherapy, focusing on the health benefits and anticancer mechanisms of Nigerian plants, particularly Vernonia amygdalina (bitter leaf), for treating breast cancer, prostate cancer, diabetes, and mitigating chemotherapy side effects. He has published 28 peer-reviewed articles, cited over 1,000 times, including 'Preclinical Assessment of Vernonia amygdalina Leaf Extracts as DNA Damaging Anti-cancer Agent in the Management of Breast Cancer' (2008) and 'Sensitivity and Mechanisms of Taxol-Resistant Prostate Carcinoma Cells to Vernonia amygdalina' (2012). Izevbigie holds six U.S. patents on cancer phytochemotherapy and cAMP measurement methods, such as US Patent 6,894,604 (2005) and 6,713,098 (2004). He co-founded EdoBotanics, producing edoTIDEplus, a NAFDAC-approved supplement. Major honors include National Academy of Inventors Charter Fellowship (2012), JSU Research Innovation Award (2006), and JSU Group Research, Inventor, and Technology Transfer Awards (2003/2004).