Rev. Sr. Prof. Evangeline Oparaocha is a professor of Public Health and Medical Parasitology, of the Department of Public Health, Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO), Nigeria. She joined university lecturing in 1997 as a Lecturer 11, and successfully moved through the different cadres to the position of a full professor in 2011. Prof. is a proud alumni of the prestigious University of Ibadan, Nigeria where she did her Post graduate studies (M.Sc., PGDE & PhD) and Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, USA, where she obtained two Advanced Executive Public Health Certificates in Ethical Issues in International Health Research and Comprehensive Industrial Hygiene. Her first degree was done at the River State University of Science and Technology, Port-Harcourt. Prof. Oparaocha is highly skilled in diverse aspects of public health and medical parasitology and has contributed tremendously in areas of epidemiology, prevention and control of major endemic parasitic diseases, human nutrition and dietetics, gender disparity in disease burden, wellness programming, community participation in disease control, food safety and hygiene, epidemiology, prevention and control of highly, prevalent non-communicable diseases like diabetics, cancers, hypertension and others. She has equally researched expansively in areas of occupational and environmental health and safety. With her superb, imperative research and outreach skills and 26 years of teaching experiences in universities, she has played a leading and unparalleled role in championing and repositioning of high quality teaching and researches in her field of study.
She has mentored numerous undergraduate and postgraduate students, supervised 16 PhDs with many still on-going, over 80 MPH graduates whose researches and health outreaches have positively affected the overall health of rural and urban communities in Nigeria and beyond. Her researches have translated into more than 70 high quality, international journal articles in various aspects of parasitology and public health, which are widely cited worldwide. She equally has to her credit, minor productive works including locally made mosquito repellent cream, and 4 books and chapters in books. She has participated in many national disease control programmes, particularly that of malaria and onchocerciasis. She has made a global mark in the control of tropical diseases using ethnobotinicals. Sr Prof Oparaocha, is a member of so many high rated professional bodies including, American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, American Science Advisory Board, American Human Research Protection, Parasitology and Public Health Society of Nigeria, Third World Organization of Women in Science, African Women in Science and Engineering, Zoological Society of Nigeria, Environmental Health Society of Nigeria, etc. She is a fellow of African Institute of Public Health. As a seasoned University Administrator, she has held prominent administrative positions including, Acting Dean, Associate Dean, Head of Department, School Post Graduate Coordinator and is the current Dean of the School of Health Technology, FUTO, a position she held 4 years ago. She has held prominent leadership positions in her international religious congregation as well. Sr Prof. is the Regional Editor of International Journal of Maternal and Child Health (IJMA) and International Journal of Translational Medical Research and Public Health (IJTMRPH) (both are US-based), and Co –editor in-chief of African Journal of Biomedical Sciences (AJBMS). She is a reviewer to numerous international Journals including the Journal of Parasitology. She has organized conferences on health within the country in conjunction with celebrated bodies like World Health Organization.
Prof. is a happy and accomplished scholar and nun and aside from her academic endeavors, she is a play script writer, poet, actress and director. She has travelled and been to over 30 counties outside Nigeria for either religious duties or academic activities.