Abasi Ene-Obong was featured on Fortune’s 40 Under 40 list in 2020 for the category of healthcare. He has dedicated his career to medical research with a focus on Africa, and specifically the field of genetic research. In genome studies, people of African descent make up only 3% of the genetics included in research, despite the continent of Africa having rich genetic diversity. Abasi believes that with better representation of African ancestry in medical research, it will create better medical care for all. In a recent interview, Abasi shared the role KGI played in giving him the tools to create his first company, 54Gene, and his most recent endeavor, Syndicate Bio. Abasi has a PHD in cancer biology and has worked in health care organizations in US and UK. He has a strong background in healthcare but to reach the goals of creating worldwide databases, he obtained a Masters in Bioscience Management at KGI in 2014. His education enhanced his business experience and led to the creation of a platform for African scientists to thrive.
Abasi founded global genetics company Syndicate Bio in 2023. Syndicate Bio is changing the course of Genomic Advancements with the aim of building the most diverse human health datasets with Africa’s genetic variants. This research is incredibly important to determining linkages between genes and disease. Abasi shares, “Currently, there’s this huge gap in genetic information… We want to make African genomics available to the world to power drug discoveries that can treat people of all races”.