Prof Dike Ojjie

Head: Cardiovascular Research Unit, University of Abuja

MBBS, PhD, FWACP

CHI research group: Heart of Africa 
CHI membership: Affiliate member

Dr Ojji is a faculty member College of Health Sciences, University of Abuja, and an Honorary Consultant Physician/Cardiologist at the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, Gwagwalada, Abuja, Nigeria. He is also the Lead Investigator, Cardiovascular Research Unit, University of Abuja and University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, Gwagwalada, Abuja, and the Deputy Directors, Centre for Undergraduate Research and the Institute for Advanced Medical Research and Training both of the University of Abuja.

Dr Ojji is a practising cardiologist, researcher and teacher, and he is interested in global cardiovascular health epidemiology especially in the black population, clinical trials in hypertension and heart failure, and policy research and training. His work spans defining the spectrum of hypertensive heart disease and hypertensive heart failure in the black population to hypertension pharmacotherapy in the same population and establishing a system for hypertension and cardiovascular care in the primary care level in low- and middle-income countries. 

He has been involved in a number of multinational observational and clinical trials including RELY-Atrial Fibrillation registry, THESUS (The Sub-Saharan Africa Survey of Heart Failure) study, IMPI (Prednisolone and Mycobacterium indicus pranii in tuberculous pericarditis) trial, BA-HEF (Bi treatment with hydralazine/nitrates vs. placebo in Africans admitted with acute HEart Failure) trial, REMEDY (Global Rheumatic Heart Disease Registry), INTRE-CHF (International Congestive Heart Failure) and ECHO Normal.

He led the CREOLE (Comparison of Three Combination Therapies in Lowering Blood Pressure in Black Africans) trial which was a multi-centre, multinational, randomised trial in 10 sites in 6 sub-Saharan African countries demonstrating the benefits of calcium channel blocker-based dual therapy in the blacks residing in sub-Saharan Africa.

He has over 86 manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals including New England Journal of Medicine, American Heart Journal, European Journal Heart Failure, Journal of Hypertension, European Heart Journal, Journal Human Hypertension, Journal American Medical Association and The Lancet. Dr Ojji seeks to improve cardiovascular care in the black population residing in low and middle-income countries. He is married with two children. 

Research engagements:

  • RO1 NIH/NHLBI Funded Transforming Hypertension Management in Nigeria (mPI)
  • UG3/UH3 NIH/NHLBI Funded Evaluating the Implementation and Scale-Up of Nigeria National Sodium Reduction Program (mPI)
  • UG3/UH3, NIH/NHLBI Funded Managing Hypertension among People Living with HIV: an Integrated Model (MAP-IT) (mPI)
  • University of Cambridge GCRF QR Funded: The evidence-based treatment of hypertensive heart failure in sub-Saharan Africa: A feasibility study (Co-PI)