Dr. Olawale Salami
Head, Clinical Trials Unit
University of Global Health Equity, Kigali.
Dr. Olawale Salami (MD, DTMH, MBA) is a physician, clinical researcher, and drug development expert with over 15 years of experience in clinical trial design across Phase 1 to 4, regulatory strategy, and infectious disease research.
As head of the clinical trials unit, he oversees the strategic, scientific and operational aspects of clinical trial programs at the University of Global Health Equity, Kigali, Rwanda, with a vision of building a world class clinical trials centre in Rwanda.
Prior to joining UGHE, Dr. Salami has held leadership positions at SGS Pharma ( Belgium), Exevir Bio ( Belgium) , FIND Diagnostics ( Switzerland) , and Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative, DNDi(Switzerland) , overseeing complex Phase 1–4 clinical trials across multiple therapeutic areas, including oncology, infectious diseases, and respiratory medicine. At SGS Pharma, Dr Salami led more than 24 trials with small and medium-sized biotech and pharma companies across the EU and US, with about a third of these as first-in-human trials.
A former Marie Curie post MD Fellow in Infection Immunology at the University of Lausanne, Dr. Salami’s research spans translational medicine, clinical pharmacology, and diagnostics. He has contributed to global health initiatives, partnering with WHO, Oxford University, and regulatory bodies across Europe, Africa, and Asia to drive innovation in drug and diagnostic development.
Dr. Salami is deeply committed to capacity building in Africa’s clinical trial landscape. He has led initiatives to strengthen clinical research infrastructure, having conducted trials at sites in Ghana, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, and South Africa.
He holds an MBA from Edu-Effective Business School, Prague, a Post-MD Diploma in Tropical Medicine from the Royal College of Physicians, London, and an MD from Ahmadu Bello University, Nigeria.
Dr Salami has authored more than 30 peer-reviewed publications with more than 450 citations.
