About the club
A student community built around evidence.
The LASUMSA Research & Journal Club is a student-led body at Lagos State University College of Medicine. We meet monthly to appraise the medical literature, we run our own research projects, and we publish both.
Our mission
To make the critical evaluation of medical evidence an ordinary skill among our students — and to leave behind a published record of what we learned while learning it.
Develop the capacity to critically appraise medical literature independently and rigorously.
Build practical research skills — study design, data collection, analysis and scientific writing.
Create a forum in which questions about evidence can be asked without penalty.
Produce a permanent, citable record of student scholarly work.
Connect students across disciplines, years and institutions who are interested in research.
How the journal club works
Five steps, every month.
01
Select
A contemporary research article, chosen for its relevance and methodological interest.
02
Read
Members independently examine the paper before the session meets.
03
Appraise
Design, analysis, findings and limitations are examined line by line.
04
Question
What does the evidence actually tell us? What could it not tell us?
05
Communicate
We publish our discussion, appraisal and takeaways as a permanent record.
How we work
Four commitments
- Precision over confidence
- We would rather say ‘this study does not establish that’ than imply a certainty we cannot support. Much of what is misread in medicine begins as an overstatement that nobody had time to check.
- Methods are part of the finding
- A result is inseparable from the design that produced it. We teach the design alongside the conclusion, always.
- Openness
- Our appraisals are published in full, including where the paper is strong, and including where we changed our minds.
- Access
- No prior research experience is assumed. The club exists to make research participation normal rather than exceptional.
The club
Executive & editorial team
Abdulgafar Hikmah
Editor in Chief
Abdul-Liadi Faaiz
Deputy Editor in Chief
Amarachi Adeyemi
General Secretary
Folarin Abisola
Director of Research
Ogundipe Taiwo
Director of Publications
Barika Abdulmalik
Programs Director
Raji Mosope
Director of Communications
Beckley Oserebameh
Information and Technical Lead 1
Adewunmi Hassan
Information and Technical Lead 2
Adedoyin Adeboun
Treasurer
A short history
On 26 June 2021, the research committee launched its inaugural project, Research Workshop 1.0. The four-day programme, spanning four weeks, ran from 26 June to 17 July 2021 at the Multipurpose Hall, LASUCOM. It was attended by several facilitators and researchers in clinical and experimental medicine and health, alongside student representatives from all classes, 200 to 600 level.
The workshop featured dignitary facilitators including Prof K. O. Wright (Department of Community Health), Dr Isaac Fadewa (a researcher par excellence and One Young World ambassador), Dr Toluwalase Awoyemi (a Rhodes Scholar and PhD scholar at the University of Oxford), Mr Ernest Owojori (data researcher) and Aborede Abdulahi (public health researcher). Across the four sessions, mean attendance was 41.
Topics taught included the A–Z of research writing, accessing research opportunities and data analysis — delivered by lecturers from within LASUCOM and beyond to about 60 students. Abstract writing was also taught, focused on those particularly interested in submitting an abstract for the research conference on 4 November 2021; that session was taken by Agboola Progress. Eligible candidates were presented with certificates after the sessions and divided into groups to work collectively on their agreed research projects.
The next research conference followed in 2022, and the one after that in 2025. The 2026 conference will feature the maiden journal launch.