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Resume

Ugochukwu, Ngozi

Dr. Ngozi Ugochukwu is a professor of Biochemistry.The main thrust of our research is the use of enzymology and cutting-edge biochemical and gene technology techniques in deciphering the underlying mechanisms in the pathophysiology of chronic metabolic diseases especially diabetes, obesity, congestive heart failure and colon cancer and their unifying link in quest of non-invasive nutritional interventions for effective preventive strategies and therapies. The methodologies are multifaceted involving the ‘omics’: pharmaco/nutrigenomics; transcriptomics (examining the expression level of mRNAs using high thorough-put techniques based on DNA microarray technology); proteomics (in discovery of disease biomarkers) and metabolomics (end-products of gene expression). Integration of all the data obtained from these methodologies give a more complete picture of the status of the organism in the disease state and therefore very valuable at the molecular level.

AWARDS:

  1. 2008 Florida Education Fund William R. Jones Mentor Award
  2. 2007 Florida Education Fund William R. Jones Most Valuable Mentor Award
  3. 2007 Florida A&M University Advanced Teacher of the Year Award
  4. 2006 Florida A & M University School of Graduate Studies Exemplary Mentor Award (College of Arts & Sciences) for contributions to graduate education at FAMU.
  5. 2006 Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program Certificate of Appreciation for training students under the program.
  6. 2005 Florida A&M University Teacher of the Year Award

GRANTS:

  1. Mbuya, O. S., Ugochukwu, N.H. (Co-PI), Nzengung, V.A. and Jain, A. Phytoremediation of perchlorate and N-nitrosodimethylamine as single and co-contaminants. A Research Project funded by EPA/NCER Research Grant (2003 – 2006). 
  2. Pfizer Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship Award on: The Effects of Dietary Caloric Restriction on Oxidative Stress and Inflammation in the Brain of Streptozotocin-induced Diabetic Rats (Mukes, Jessica - student) by Pfizer Groton Laboratories, Groton, Connecticut (Summer, 2004).
  3. Mbuya, O. S. (P. I.); Ugochukwu, Ngozi H. (Co-P.I.) and Lowrance, R. (ARS Collaborator). Soil Nitrate Below the Root Zone in Tomato Farms in North Florida. A Research Project funded by the United States Department of Agriculture Cooperative Agreement Grant for the Center of Excellence in Biology and Chemistry, Florida A & M University, Tallahassee (2002 – 2005).