The Deputy Vice-Chancellor of North-Eastern University, Gombe, Dr Mohammad Sani Isyaka, has become the youngest professor in Gombe State at the age of 40.
Isyaka was promoted to Professor of Organic and Natural Products Chemistry by the university’s Governing Council, effective October 1, 2026.
The university’s Public Relations Officer, Mukhtar Sani Saulawa, disclosed this in a statement, saying the promotion followed the successful completion of the institution’s external assessment process and subsequent ratification by the governing council.
Born on August 30, 1986, in Gombe Local Government Area, Isyaka also became the youngest Deputy Vice-Chancellor from the state when he assumed the position at 37.
The university said he had also been admitted as a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Chemists of Nigeria in recognition of his contributions to the chemical sciences.
Isyaka earned his B.Sc. in Chemistry from the University of Abuja in 2008 before obtaining an M.Sc. in Organic Chemistry from the same institution in 2012.
He later completed a PhD in Organic and Natural Products Chemistry at the University of Surrey, United Kingdom, in 2020.
He began his academic career as an Assistant Lecturer at the Federal University of Kashere in 2012 before joining North-Eastern University.
He rose to the rank of Associate Professor in 2023 and attained the rank of full Professor in 2026.
According to the university, Isyaka has published more than 100 research papers in Scopus-indexed international journals and supervised postgraduate students at both master’s and doctoral levels.
His research has focused on natural products chemistry, including the isolation and identification of 47 novel chemical compounds from three African Croton species.
One of the compounds linked to his research, Saniolide, was named in his honour and has shown activity against melanoma, renal and colon cancer cell lines in laboratory studies.
At North-Eastern University, Isyaka has served as Director of Academic Planning and Quality Assurance, Chairman of the Senate Business Committee and pioneer Director of the Centre for African Medicinal Plants Research.
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