Foreign
TONY OKEKE, NNPC SCIENCE QUIZ CHAMPION, JOINS USA BASED SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH HONOR SOCIETY, SIGMA XI.
The USA based interdisciplinary Scientific Research Honor Society, Sigma Xi, has nominated Tony Kabilan Okeke, the Nigerian born science wizkid and 2018 Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) National Science Quiz Champion, for full membership of the Honor Society.
The letter from the Society signed by the Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer, Jamie Vernon, and Manager of Membership and Chapters, Daniela Carlson, said Tony got the nomination in recognition of his scholarly achievements and contributions to the advancement of knowledge in Biomedical Engineering. “Dear Tony Okeke, in recognition of your scholarly achievements and contributions to the advancement of knowledge in your field, it is our pleasure to nominate you for Full Membership in Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society,” the group wrote in the letter.
Sigma Xi, founded in 1886, honors excellence in scientific investigation and recognises researchers for the values the Society hold in high esteem. More than 200 Nobel Laureates are members, “all joining together under the single mission to enhance the health of the research enterprise, foster integrity in science and engineering, and promote the public’s understanding of science for the purpose of improving the human condition”
Writing further in the letter, the Society stated that membership in the Honor Society distinguishes, and recognises, Tony as an exceptional contributor to the research community and offers him a myriad of opportunities to support his career. In addition, the Society membership offers him access to programs and initiatives that recognize innovators, support interdisciplinary research, foster responsible conduct of research, train researchers in science communication, cultivate the next generation of researchers, and promote the public understanding of science.
It would be recalled that in 2023, during the Philly CodeFest hackathon in Philadelphia, USA, Tony led an interdisciplinary team of six international students in developing MedDibia, an AI-powered iOs application for healthcare delivery in undeserved communities, especially in developing countries. As the project lead, he developed machine learning solutions to power core functionality. This included training a classifier to predict diseases from lists of symptoms. Additionally, he utilized transfer learning to adapt a pre-trained “Convolutional Neural Network” to identify skin lesions by training on over 15000 images across 23 skin disease. He used a FLASK API to integrate these models into a unified diagnostic platform which powered an iOS app — developed in parallel by other team members. This project, out of the 40 entries submitted to Philly CodeFest, emerged the winner of Philly CodeFest 2023 Collaborative Team Award, one of the top prizes in the hackathon, affirming the innovative nature of their approach and showed, firsthand, how machine learning models can augment clinical diagnostics and make healthcare information more accessible, envisioning digital diagnostic assistants that provide reliable, interpretable guidance to augment the decisions of healthcare workers.
Tony’s research focuses on leveraging bioinformatics and computational methods to investigate molecular mechanisms related to identifying and predicting potential safety concerns in the various areas across drug development.
Some of his most notable accomplishments were made at the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, during his internship at Penn Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, in his investigations of biomarkers for immune activation and neuro-injury in acute COVID-19 infections. This contributed to enhanced understanding of immune responses, organ failure and the impact of anti-viral treatments in COVID-19 patients, leading to the publication of high-impact papers on Covid-19 and his presentation of the work at the 51st Critical Care Congress of the USA Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM) Puerto Rico, April18 to 21, 2022.
Tony is also noted to have created novel interactive tools to facilitate the investigation of variations in gene expression across various cancer types. In addition, he has contributed to the development of machine learning models for predicting gene ontology enrichment in genomic based studies using RNA Sequencing and Affymetrix GeneChip data, and developed interactive web-based platforms from data generated, using high-content imaging (cell painting) platforms.
Sources at the multinational pharmaceutical group, GlaxoSmithKline, GSK, Collegeville, Pennsylvania, USA, where Tony was an intern, said he was instrumental in developing a multitude of data analysis packages, and helped to advance GSK data science, that enabled the GSK laboratory to investigate mechanisms of toxicity using new platforms being developed by GSK scientists.
In the Spring of 2023, Tony, in appreciation of his works, was given a research award, the Genetic Toxicology Technical Committee (GTTC) Professional Development Award for the Genetic Toxicology Workstream from Cross Industry Consortia, i.e., the Washington DC, USA, based Health Environmental and Safety Institute (HESI) focusing on Emerging Systems in Toxicology.
In further recognition of Tony’s strides, the USA Society of Toxicology has invited him to deliver abstract presentation to scientists attending the Society of Toxicology, SOT, 63rd Annual Conference & TOXEXPO schedule to hold at Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, from March 10 to 14, 2024. Tony would be speaking at the session on Bioinformatics, presenting his scientific research on “the Use of Advanced Computational Method to Understand Gene Functions From RNA Sequencing Data”. By presenting at this Conference, he would share his research during the leading international forum for Toxicologists, engage in open dialogue with some of the attendees for future collaborative opportunities. In attendance would be over 5000 attendees and the event will feature scientific sessions, presentations and exhibitions, sharing the latest science and technology in the field, as well as to make new connections, gather friends, and engage in mentoring and professional development.
AsideTony’s academic and scientific accolades, he has displayed outstanding leadership qualities by his service as the Vice President and the Project Manager of Drexel University Computational Design Group as well as his participation in helping to drive the Drexel Society of Artificial Intelligence over the past years.
Tony is a Biomedical Engineering student, pursuing a joint MSc/BSc degrees with concentration in Bioinformatics (MSc) and Neuroengineering (BSc) in Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
A United States federal court has set August 21, 2026, as the deadline for the release of records linked to longstanding allegations concerning Nigeria’s President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and U.S. financial accounts associated with him in the 1990s.
The records are being sought in a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit filed by Aaron Greenspan, which has reportedly been before the federal courts for more than three years.
The documents are understood to be held by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
The development followed a reported request by the DOJ for an additional 10 days to comply with an earlier court order requiring the release of the records.
According to Von Batten, a Washington, D.C.-based Republican lobbying firm, Tinubu also joined the DOJ’s request for the extension.
The firm said it obtained a copy of a recent court filing submitted on Tinubu’s behalf and claimed that the Nigerian president formally joined the request just two business days before it became public.
However, U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell rejected the request for additional time and directed that the records be released by August 21.
Von Batten said Tinubu’s reported decision to participate in the extension request raised questions about his reasons for seeking more time before the records are made public.
The firm alleged that the delay could potentially be used to lobby U.S. officials over concerns that releasing the documents might affect U.S.-Nigeria relations.
It further speculated that Tinubu could argue that disclosure of the records might affect his cooperation with Washington on counterterrorism and security matters.
The records relate to allegations dating back to the early 1990s, including the 1993 forfeiture of approximately $460,000 connected to accounts associated with Tinubu in a U.S. proceeding involving suspected proceeds of narcotics trafficking.
Tinubu has consistently denied wrongdoing and has rejected allegations linking him personally to drug trafficking.
Von Batten also warned against any attempt by U.S. officials to interfere with the FOIA or judicial process to prevent the records from being released.
The lobbying firm referenced U.S. President Donald Trump’s stated opposition to shielding individuals accused of serious criminal conduct, arguing that the legal process should be allowed to proceed without political interference.
With Judge Howell’s ruling in place, the records are expected to be released on or before August 21, unless further legal action changes the deadline.
The contents of the documents remain unknown, and their release could provide further information about the 1990s forfeiture proceedings and U.S. law-enforcement investigations involving accounts linked to Tinubu.
South Africa’s anti-immigration group, March and March, has announced September 30 as a fresh deadline for undocumented foreigners to leave the country, as it staged a protest outside the Southern African Development Community (SADC) summit in Durban on Monday.
The group marched through central Durban under the theme, “It’s time to fetch your people,” calling on African leaders attending the 46th SADC Summit to take back their citizens living in South Africa without legal documentation.
March and March had earlier led nationwide protests on June 30, demanding tougher government action against undocumented immigration and warning that its campaign would continue until its demands were addressed.
Announcing its latest action, the group said the September 30 deadline would mark the beginning of what it described as the “mother of all protests”, while urging South Africans to assist the police in identifying undocumented foreigners.
The protest took place as the 46th Ordinary SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government got underway in Durban, with leaders from the regional bloc’s 16 member states in attendance.
The demonstration has renewed debate over South Africa’s treatment of foreign nationals, particularly citizens of other African countries.
President Cyril Ramaphosa recently condemned discrimination and violence against foreigners, saying South Africa could not advocate regional integration at the SADC summit while practising exclusion within the country.
The June 30 protests were accompanied by security operations and reports of attacks and looting in some areas, according to police reports cited in the original report.
March and March has continued to demand tougher action against undocumented immigration, while tensions over the treatment of foreign nationals have prompted some African countries to evacuate their citizens from South Africa.
The latest protest has brought the immigration dispute directly to the doorstep of the SADC summit, placing the issue before regional leaders whose citizens are among those affected.
US President Donald Trump has threatened to bomb Oman if it “gets in the way” of a US deal with Iran over the Strait of Hormuz, while calling on Tehran to surrender.
Trump made the remarks in an interview with Fox News journalist Trey Yingst, amid ongoing talks between Oman and Iran over future maritime navigation arrangements through the strategic waterway.
“If Oman gets in the way, we’ll bomb the shit out of them,” Trump said, referring to the discussions between Oman and Iran as Washington pursues its own negotiations.
Iranian and Omani officials have been holding talks for weeks, with Iran’s Foreign Ministry saying Monday that both sides were working towards a joint declaration on the strait.
Trump has repeatedly claimed that the Strait of Hormuz is under US control, despite Iran maintaining an effective blockade that has severely restricted maritime traffic.
On Friday, Trump said he could even declare the Strait of Hormuz part of US territory, prompting Iran to insist that the strategic waterway “will remain Iranian.”
Trump also called on Iran to “put up the white flag of surrender,” according to Yingst.
The Strait of Hormuz, which lies between Iran to the north and Oman to the south, was previously regarded as an open international waterway and carries a significant share of global energy shipments.
AFP
There has been no known deployment of US ground forces in Iran during the Middle East war, with the exception of a rescue mission in April for a downed American pilot.
Hatami did not provide any details on where or when the killing or capturing of US soldiers was expected to take place.
“Anyone who kills or captures and hands over an invading American military personnel will receive a reward equivalent to $30,000 or 5 billion tomans from the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Army,” Hatami said, using an informal unit equivalent to 10,000 Iranian rials.
The war between Tehran and Washington began on February 28 after the United States, joined by Israel, attacked Iran. It was followed by an April ceasefire after nearly 40 days of fighting, and a June framework for peace talks that later collapsed.
Iran and the United States have since traded fire sporadically, with fighting mainly centred in southern Iran and around the Strait of Hormuz.
AFP
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