United States-based bioinformatics and health informatics specialist, Mr. Precious Adeniyi, has ignited a national conversation on precision pharmacy. Speaking at a Continuing Professional Development (CPD) lecture hosted by the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Jos, and supported by the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN), Plateau State chapter, he urged Nigerian pharmacists to take leadership in the global innovation landscape.
The CPD programme, regarded as a flagship professional training series, brought together pharmacists from across states to shape emerging practice standards.
Adeniyi explained that with the rise of personalised medicine, AI, and genomic science, pharmacists must evolve from traditional dispensers of medicines to interpreters of data, precision care navigators, and frontline health innovators.
In his presentation titled “Bridging Bioinformatics, Health Informatics, and AI: Transforming Drug Discovery and Precision Medicine in Pharmacy”, he emphasised that pharmacists are “not on the sidelines but the missing link.”
He unveiled a framework for integrating genomic insights, data analytics, and clinical decision support tools into routine pharmacy practice. According to him, the future of drug discovery will rely less on chemistry alone and more on algorithms, genetic information, and real-time analytics.
Highlighting the concept of precision pharmacy, Adeniyi noted that the shift is from drug–drug interactions to drug–gene interactions, tailoring treatment to each patient’s genetic profile. Artificial intelligence, he stressed, is central to this transformation, while health informatics ensures accessibility at the point of care.
“The next decade will belong to treatments informed by both science and data — and pharmacists must be trained to speak both languages,” he said.
Adeniyi further stressed the urgency of including African genomes in global research. Despite Africa’s high genetic diversity, less than 2% of global genomic datasets come from the continent. This underrepresentation, he warned, risks widening the innovation gap, leaving African patients at a disadvantage in precision medicine.
Comparing Nigeria’s status with the United States and the United Kingdom — where pharmacogenomic testing is already integrated into care — he called for urgent action.
Dr. Lohdip Domjul, Chairman of PSN Plateau State, also pledged the association’s support in championing digital transformation and influencing national policies on precision medicine and AI. Both Adeniyi and other speakers called for stronger infrastructure, equitable access to genomic testing, and national strategies that put pharmacists at the centre of precision healthcare.