EUCLID Faculty Profiles

Dr. Gregory Chukwuemeka Umeh

Dr. Gregory Chukwuemeka Umeh is a distinguished public health physician with over 17 years of experience in disease surveillance, routine and supplemental immunization, outbreak investigation, management, and response across Nigeria. He currently serves as a National Professional Officer for Vaccine Preventable Diseases (VPD) at the World Health Organization (WHO) Katsina State Field Office, where he provides technical leadership for immunization programs, outbreak response, and surveillance systems. His expertise spans a wide range of infectious diseases, including poliomyelitis, Lassa fever, measles, COVID-19, diphtheria, yellow fever, and mpox, with a special interest in the Dynamics of Infectious Diseases (DID), exploring the interrelationships among diseases, environmental factors, climatic conditions, and biodiversity in the evolution and progression of emerging and re-emerging zoonotic diseases.

Dr. Umeh holds a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria (2002), an MSc in Clinical Psychology from Makerere University, Kampala (2015), and both a Master's in International Public Health (MIPH, 2022) and a PhD in International Public Health (DIPH, 2026) from EUCLID University, Banjul, The Gambia. His doctoral dissertation examined "Health Workers' Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices on Infection Prevention and Control during Recurrent Lassa Fever Outbreaks in Kaduna State, Nigeria." He has been an integral part of the team that successfully interrupted Wild Poliovirus transmission in Nigeria in August 2020 and has since supported efforts to control other poliovirus variants and vaccine-preventable diseases. A prolific researcher with 24 peer-reviewed publications, Dr. Umeh is also a published author, former Chairman of the Association of Nigerian Authors (Kaduna branch), and a devoted Catholic family man married with three children.

At EUCLID, faculty interactions are intentionally personal, responsive, and relationship-centered. Students connect with professors primarily through direct email and scheduled Zoom sessions, creating regular opportunities for substantive dialogue rather than one-way communication.

Professors respond promptly to emails with detailed, constructive feedback and are readily available for one-on-one Zoom meetings to discuss coursework, research direction, thesis development, or career goals. These interactions are not limited to academic questions; they often evolve into ongoing mentorship relationships where faculty serve as professional and academic role models. Students benefit from professors’ real-world experience in global affairs, sustainable development, diplomacy, and related fields, gaining practical insights that complement the formal curriculum.

The emphasis is on genuine relationship building. Many students develop lasting professional connections with their professors, who actively support their academic progress and post-graduation objectives. This accessible, human-centered faculty model is a defining feature of the EUCLID experience, designed to foster intellectual growth, professional maturity, and meaningful scholarly collaboration.