Dimie Ogoina

Dimie Ogoina is a Nigerian infectious-disease physician, physician-scientist and academic administrator known for clinical research and outbreak-response work on mpox. He is Vice-Chancellor of Bayelsa Medical University and was elected chair of the World Health Organization's International Health Regulations Emergency Committee for the 2024 mpox upsurge.

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About Dimie Ogoina

Profile information current to 2026-08-22.

Nigeria · Infectious-disease physician, Physician-scientist, Academic administrator · 5 affiliations

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Known for: Mpox clinical research and outbreak response; Infectious-disease medicine; Global health emergency advisory work
Country: Nigeria

Infectious-disease physician
Physician-scientist
Academic administrator

At a glance

Ogoina has served as Vice-Chancellor of Bayelsa Medical University since 2 October 2024.
He led a peer-reviewed report on the clinical experience and response at Niger Delta University Teaching Hospital during Nigeria's 2017 mpox outbreak.
His 2019 outbreak report identified sexual transmission as plausible in some observed mpox cases while emphasizing that its role remained unestablished and required further study.
In August 2024, he was elected chair of the WHO International Health Regulations Emergency Committee concerning the mpox upsurge.
His mpox work brought international recognition, including selection for Nature's 10 in 2022 and the TIME 100 in 2023.

Medical and academic career

Ogoina earned an MBBS from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, in 2000. During Nigeria's 2017 mpox outbreak, he was affiliated with Niger Delta University Teaching Hospital and Niger Delta University in Yenagoa. He later became Professor of Medicine and Infectious Diseases and Head of the Infectious Unit at Bayelsa Medical University, where he assumed office as Vice-Chancellor on 2 October 2024.

Mpox research and outbreak response

Ogoina's public-health significance rests chiefly on his clinical and research work on mpox in Bayelsa State. He was lead author of a 2019 report on Niger Delta University Teaching Hospital's response to Nigeria's 2017 outbreak. That study described sexual transmission as plausible in some patients but did not establish its role. He later co-authored a 2023 New England Journal of Medicine report on mpox among linked heterosexual casual partners treated in Bayelsa.

Global health advisory role

In August 2024, Ogoina was elected chair of the WHO International Health Regulations Emergency Committee convened in response to the mpox upsurge. WHO's committee roster identified him as a professor and infectious-unit head at Bayelsa Medical University. The available roster documents the committee structure for that upsurge but does not by itself establish whether his committee work continued beyond it.

International recognition

Ogoina's work received wider international attention as mpox became a global health concern. Nature included him in its Nature's 10 selection for 2022, and TIME included him in its list of the 100 most influential people of 2023.

Affiliations

Bayelsa Medical University Vice-Chancellor 2024-10-02–present
Bayelsa Medical University Professor of Medicine and Infectious Diseases and Head of Infectious Unit present
Niger Delta University Teaching Hospital
Niger Delta University
Bayelsa Medical University 2024-10-02–present

Timeline

2000 Earned an MBBS from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.
2017 Participated in clinical and outbreak-response work associated with Nigeria's re-emergent mpox outbreak in Bayelsa State.
2019-04-17 Published as lead author a report on Niger Delta University Teaching Hospital's experience and response during the 2017 mpox outbreak.
2022-12-14 Included in Nature's 10 selection for 2022.
2023-04-13 Included in the TIME 100 list for 2023.
2024-08-14 Elected chair of the WHO International Health Regulations Emergency Committee concerning the 2024 mpox upsurge.
2024-10-02 Assumed office as Vice-Chancellor of Bayelsa Medical University.

Additional verified details

Current context

Bayelsa Medical University identifies Ogoina as its Vice-Chancellor, an office he assumed on 2 October 2024.
WHO's roster for the 2024 mpox International Health Regulations Emergency Committee lists Ogoina as chair and identifies him as Professor of Medicine and Infectious Diseases and Head of Infectious Unit at Bayelsa Medical University. The roster records the committee structure for the 2024 mpox upsurge but does not by itself establish whether the committee role continued beyond that response.

Biographical facts

Ogoina earned an MBBS from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.
During Nigeria's 2017 mpox outbreak, Ogoina was affiliated with Niger Delta University Teaching Hospital and Niger Delta University in Yenagoa.
Ogoina was lead author of a 2019 peer-reviewed report on the 2017 human mpox outbreak response at Niger Delta University Teaching Hospital in Bayelsa State.
The 2019 report stated that sexual transmission of mpox was plausible in some observed patients while noting that its role was not established and required further study.
Ogoina co-authored a 2023 New England Journal of Medicine report describing mpox cases among linked heterosexual casual partners treated in Bayelsa.