Keynote Speaker

Dr. Ikhide Imumorin

Executive Director, California State University Biotechnology (CSUBIOTECH) program
Adjunct Professor in the College of Science at San Diego State University

Preparing the Biotech Workforce of the Future: The Role of Academic-Industry Partnerships

Dr. Ikhide Imumorin is Executive Director, California State University Biotechnology (CSUBIOTECH) program and Adjunct Professor in the College of Science at San Diego State University. His role is to manage and provide vision, leadership, and support for biotechnology education and research throughout the 22-campus California State University system. He brings 34 years work experience to this position, spanning service as a professor, researcher, scientific collaborator, invited speaker, consultant and advisor, mentor and extensive international engagements in Sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Caribbean.

Prior to joining the CSU, he held faculty positions at Valdosta State University, Spelman College, Cornell University and Georgia Institute of Technology. He has mentored over 60 undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral associates and research scholars from the US, Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia. His body of work consists of 1 book, 1 book chapter, 73 peer-reviewed articles and over 100 abstracts and presentations. He has given over 70 invited talks in Africa, Asia, the Americas, Europe, and Oceania on issues of science, technology, innovation, and economic development in developing and emerging economies. Dr Imumorin research and international development work has received support from the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, US Department for Agriculture, US Agency for International Development, foreign governments and from private industry and foundations (including Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Pfizer Animal Health, now Zoetis, Inc.) with total career grant portfolio of $34 million.

Dr Imumorin earned a PhD in animal science with focus on animal breeding, genetics and genomics at Texas A&M University, College Station and was a postdoctoral fellow at University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore in complex disease genetics. He holds an MBA from University of the People, Pasadena, CA.

If you have additional inquiries about the keynote speaker, don't hesitate to contact the SCCUR 2025 directors at sccur2025@csuci.edu.