About The Department

The 1986/1987 session marked the beginning of Physiology Department. Professor Shamsuddeen Al-hausa, a community physician and the pioneering Dean, Faculty of Medicine, was the coordinator/overseer of the Department. The Department then had only one staff on ground - Mrs Veena Sood, who was appointed as Tutor II in 1986. Mr. and Mrs. Duraisamy joined the Department as visiting lecturers from University of Ibadan; they were appointed fulltime Senior Lecturers a year later in August, 1989. Mr. Balagurunathan Duraisamy became the Ag. Head of Department in 1990, and served until 21997. Dr. (Mrs.) Zulleat M. Ofuya served the Department on Sabbatical as Senior Lecturer from University of Ibadan from February, 1996 to March 1998. She was appointed as the Ag. Head of Department in 1997. Meanwhile, many staff were recruited and enlisted for the staff development program. This has made it possible for them to acquire higher degrees and advance through the ranks.

Late Dr. A.A.U. Dikko served as Head of Department from 1998 – 2005; Hassan A. Dikko in the period August, 2005 to January, 2010. Dr. M.M. El-Khashab joined the Department as visiting Associate Professor from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, in 2004 and became a permanent staff and was appointed as Professor the following year. In 2012, the Department got its first ‘indigenous’ Physiology Professor with the appointment of Dr. A.A.U. Dikko as Professor of Human Physiology. 

The Department was headed by Professor M.M. El-Khashab in 2010 – 2012; M.A. Salim in 2012 – 2016; Dr. I.U Yarube in 2016 – 2018; Dr. Salisu A. Ibrahim in 2018 - 2020. The current Head of Department, Dr. Abbas Bubakar El-ta’alu, commenced his tenure in January, 2021.Since its inceptions and for many years afterwards, the Department was fully engaged with teaching Physiology to Medical Students. Subsequently, students of Physiotherapy and other Allied Health Sciences (Nursing, Medical Laboratory Science, Radiography and Optometry) joined in 2002/2003 and 2008/2009 sessions, respectively. The first set of students for the BSc. Human Physiology program commenced their studies in the 2013/2014 session with courses in the Faculty of Science, and started Physiology courses at 200 level a year later.