Rhodes Alumna Olamide Adeleke Named to Forbes 30 Under 30 for Breakthrough Diagnostics Work

International Recognition for Medical Innovation

Olamide Adeleke, a science graduate from Rhodes University's Faculty of Law and Public Governance in Makhanda, has earned a place on the globally recognised Forbes 30 Under 30 list in the Science and Healthcare category. The award acknowledges Olamide Adeleke's pioneering contribution to developing a portable rapid diagnostics device capable of detecting infectious pathogens within minutes using minimal blood sample volumes.

The technology, initially conceived as a final-year undergraduate project at Rhodes, has since progressed to clinical validation trials in collaboration with regional healthcare systems in South Africa.

Device Capabilities and Clinical Applications

• Sample Requirements: Functional with fewer than fifty microliters of whole blood, saliva, or nasal swab specimens.
• Detection Accuracy: Over ninety-seven percent sensitivity and specificity across a panel of fourteen common bacterial and viral pathogens in controlled clinical validation.
• Rural Healthcare Deployment: Designed for use in low-resource healthcare settings lacking laboratory infrastructure, including remote communities across South Africa.

Olamide Adeleke's Reflections

"Rhodes gave me the scientific rigour to ask precise questions and the laboratory environment to pursue answers rigorously," said Olamide Adeleke. "This recognition belongs as much to my mentors and research partners at Rhodes University as it does to me."