Nigerian-born, South African-based Professor Olalekan Ayo-Yusuf is scheduled to deliver his inaugural address at the prestigious University of Pretoria, South Africa. The inaugural address, which is meant to mark the milestone of attaining full Professorship, was to have held about 10 years ago, but Prof. Ayo-Yusuf’s very busy administrative roles held that back until this moment, owing to the insistence of the University.
This highly anticipated event is set for February 27, 2025, at the Senate Hall, Hatfield Campus, University of Pretoria. The topic of his address is “Turning the Tide on Tobacco and the Industry’s Product Innovation Gambit.”
Prof. Ayo-Yusuf is an internationally acclaimed scholar in public health and has led several global efforts in the campaign against tobacco and its adverse effects on public health, particularly in Africa.
Having previously served as a Hospital Superintendent in Limpopo Province and as the Dean and Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Research and Innovation at Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University, Prof. Ayo-Yusuf is currently the Head of the School of Health Systems and Public Health at the University of Pretoria. His primary research focus is on behavioral epidemiology and policy translation for non-communicable disease (NCD) prevention.
Over the past 20 years, he has served as a principal investigator and co-investigator on national and international research projects, including clinical trials and capacity-building initiatives related to tobacco use prevention, cessation treatments, and policy advocacy. He is currently the only member from the African region on the WHO Tobacco Regulation Scientific Group.
Beyond tobacco control, Prof. Ayo-Yusuf is also engaged in community disaster resilience studies. He previously directed the USAID-funded Transdisciplinary Southern Africa Resilience Innovation Programme as part of the ResilientAfrica Network, a collaboration of 20 African universities and three U.S. partner universities. His extensive expertise includes hospital management, university leadership, epidemiology, innovation, research design, health promotion, and policy development. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Public Health Practice, specializing in tobacco control and regulatory science.
With about 150 peer-reviewed scientific publications, Prof. Ayo-Yusuf serves on the editorial boards of multiple international journals. He is also an active member of numerous national and international scientific committees and boards, including his current roles as;
Chairman of the Standing Committee on Health of the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf)
Co-Chairman of Next World Conference in Tobacco, happening in Dublin, June 2025
Member of the WHO Tobacco Regulation Scientific Group
Chair of the Gauteng Provincial Health Research Committee
Prof. Ayo-Yusuf’s inaugural address will also be streamed live for invitees unable to attend in person, and it’s worthy of note this landmark event coincides with the 20 years anniversary of WHO’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, (FCTC).
