Mrs Abimbola Ayoola
About me
Abimbola Olawunmi Ayoola is a Biomedical Scientist specialising in molecular biology, environmental toxicology, and virology. She holds a B.Tech in Biochemistry (OSUSTECH, Nigeria), an MSc in Applied Biochemistry (FUTA, Nigeria, CGPA 4.43/5.0), and an MSc in Biomedical Science with Distinction from the University of Salford, UK, earned as an NDDC Distinguished Scholar. Her research spans diesel exhaust particle toxicology, published in Cell Biochemistry and Biophysics, and a novel virus discovery in UK wild rodents through bioinformatic analysis. She has laboratory experience in qPCR, ELISA, Western blotting, and nucleic acid extraction, alongside roles as a Research Assistant, Demonstrator, and community Health Officer. She is now seeking a PhD in molecular virology or environmental health.
Abimbola Olawunmi Ayoola is a Biomedical Scientist and early-career researcher whose work sits at the intersection of molecular biology, environmental toxicology, and virology. Born on 4 July 1993 in Ondo State, Nigeria, she built her academic foundation through a B.Tech in Biochemistry at Ondo State University of Science and Technology (OSUSTECH), Okitipupa, graduating with a CGPA of 3.75/5.0 and a consistent record of "Good Standing" throughout her five-year programme.
Ayoola went on to complete an MSc in Applied Biochemistry at the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA), graduating with a CGPA of 4.43/5.0. Her research there examined how natural compounds, curcumin and rutin, could counteract the toxic effects of diesel exhaust particles on the kidney, liver, heart, and aorta of rats, using RT-PCR to trace oxidative stress and inflammatory gene expression pathways. This work produced two publications: a co-authored paper in Cell Biochemistry and Biophysics (2026) and a further manuscript, on which she is first author, currently under review in The Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics.
During and after her MSc, Ayoola worked as a Research Assistant at Precision Molecular Laboratory Ltd in Nigeria, where she supervised daily operations across ten concurrent research projects, coordinating teams of up to fifteen professionals while maintaining rigorous GLP compliance and audit-ready laboratory records. She also served as a Health Officer during Nigeria's compulsory National Youth Service Corps, delivering community health education to more than 300 people across five rural communities, and produced health-trend reports that informed local resource allocation, an early demonstration of her commitment to applying science in service of public health.
Ayoola relocated to the UK in 2025 as a fully funded scholar under the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) Foreign Postgraduate Scholarship Programme, to pursue an MSc in Biomedical Science (Distinction) at the University of Salford. Her academic performance was recognised with the NDDC Distinguished Scholar Award. For her dissertation, working within a One Health framework, she built a bioinformatics pipeline to analyse RNA sequencing data from archived UK wild rodent tissue, identifying 370 unique viral contigs and characterising a newly found betaherpesvirus lineage, a discovery she presented in both a written dissertation and a conference-style presentation.
Alongside her research, Ayoola has built hands-on laboratory expertise spanning real-time qPCR, RT-PCR, ELISA, Western blotting, SDS-PAGE, and nucleic acid extraction and purification, complemented by bioinformatics proficiency in BLAST, SPAdes, and MEGA12. She currently works as a Demonstrator at the University of Salford, supporting undergraduate laboratory teaching, and has additional experience supporting pupils with complex additional needs as a Teaching Assistant, reflecting a consistent thread of mentorship and knowledge-sharing throughout her career.
Ayoola is now seeking to build on this foundation through a PhD, with particular interest in molecular virology, environmental toxicology, and the mechanistic links between environmental exposure and human disease.