Nigerian pharmacist and McGill University doctoral researcher, Chika Onochie, has received a Québec research scholarship worth up to CAD$100,000 for his work on improving the assessment of male fertility.
The award, under the Doctoral Research Scholarships programme of the Fonds de recherche du Québec, followed a peer-review process evaluating his application.
Onochie said the scholarship would support his PhD research into molecular biomarkers that could provide additional information about sperm function beyond conventional semen analysis.
His research is being conducted at McGill University under the supervision of reproductive-health researcher, Cristian O’Flaherty.
Onochie’s work focuses on molecular changes in sperm and how they may affect sperm function, including the ability of sperm to undergo processes necessary for fertilisation.
The research builds on his broader interest in male infertility and redox signalling, an area concerned with chemical processes that can influence cellular function.
In 2025, Onochie co-authored a peer-reviewed study examining redox-induced protein modifications in spermatozoa and their relationship with sperm function and male infertility.
The research has continued into 2026. Onochie was also a co-author of a study published in Antioxidants examining protein CoAlation and its role in human sperm capacitation.
His work has attracted recognition within the McGill research community. A university publication listed him among the PhD trainees in O’Flaherty’s research group and recorded his best oral presentation award at the 2025 Canadian Oxidative Stress Consortium meeting.
Onochie’s professional profile lists McGill University as his doctoral institution from 2023 and identifies his research interests as pharmacology, andrology, male infertility and redox signalling.
The Nigerian-born researcher began his scientific and professional journey in Nigeria before moving to Canada for doctoral training.
Speaking about the motivation behind his research, Onochie said his experience in Nigeria exposed him to gaps in the evaluation of male infertility.
He said infertility investigations can sometimes place a heavier burden on women, while male evaluation may rely largely on conventional semen analysis.
According to him, this raised questions about whether existing tests capture all the factors that determine whether sperm are capable of fertilisation.
His research therefore seeks to identify additional functional biomarkers that could help researchers and clinicians understand male fertility more comprehensively.
For Onochie, the Québec scholarship represents both support for his doctoral work and recognition of the training he received in Nigeria.
He said his education and professional experience in the country gave him a foundation that enabled him to pursue research internationally.
The scholarship comes as Onochie’s publication record continues to expand, with his recent studies examining molecular mechanisms involved in sperm function and male reproductive health.
While the research could eventually contribute to improved tools for assessing male infertility, the biomarkers under investigation remain part of ongoing scientific research and are not presented as established clinical tests.
