Mark Huffman, MD, MPH, William Bowen Endowed Professor of Medicine in the Cardiovascular Division at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has been named an honorary professor at the University of Abuja in Nigeria. The appointment recognizes his contributions to cardiovascular research and public health in Nigeria .
Huffman has co-led a research program on hypertension prevention and treatment in Nigeria since 2019, working alongside Dike Ojji, MBBS, of the University of Abuja, and partners from Northwestern University, the World Health Organization, and the Federal Ministry of Health of Nigeria. Funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, the program has enrolled more than 20,000 adults across 60 primary health care centers. The research integrates hypertension diagnosis and management into primary care settings led by trained community health workers, and examines how Nigeria’s food policies influence the development of high blood pressure.
Huffman, who also serves as co-director of the WashU Medicine Global Health Center, has described the Nigeria partnership as a model for bidirectional global health research, generating evidence to shape national policy abroad while bringing lessons back to St. Louis, where high rates of hypertension, heart disease, and stroke remain a persistent challenge.