Virtue Oboro is a

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...

entrepreneur, and co-founder of Tiny Hearts Technology. In 2016, she developed and launched Crib ‘A Glow, an LED-lit portable crib that treats

jaundice Jaundice, also known as icterus, is a yellowish or greenish pigmentation of the skin and sclera due to high bilirubin levels. Jaundice in adults is typically a sign indicating the presence of underlying diseases involving abnormal heme meta ...

utilizing solar energy, and patented the innovation in 2017. Virtue serves as campaign coordinator for Yellow Alert Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to training nurses, midwives, and community health workers across rural

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

. She volunteers for the Olive Mentorship Program, Education Africa Foundation, and the Lutheran Refugee Program.

Education

Virtue completed a bachelor's degree in Fine and Applied Arts at the Cross River State University of Technology and a certificate in Entrepreneurial Management from the Enterprise Development Center,

Pan-Atlantic University Pan-Atlantic University is a private, non-profit educational institution in Lekki, Lagos State. Timeline The university had its origin as the Lagos Business School (LBS), established in 1991. The federal government approved the university a ...

Lagos state Lagos State ( yo, Ìpínlẹ̀ Èkó) is a States of Nigeria, state in South West (Nigeria), southwestern Nigeria. Of the 36 States of Nigeria, states, it is both the List of Nigerian states by population, most populous and List of Nigerian state ...

. Thereafter she earned a master's degree from

Heriot-Watt University Heriot-Watt University ( gd, Oilthigh Heriot-Watt) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was established in 1821 as the School of Arts of Edinburgh, the world's first mechanics' institute, and subsequently granted univ ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

Tiny Hearts Company

The Tiny Hearts Technology company was established by Virtue and her husband, Ezoukumo Oboro. The company manufactures

Crib A'Glow Crib A'Glow is a portable solar-powered phototherapy unit that uses blue LED lights to treat infants with jaundice. The device was invented by Virtue Oboro, a visual designer and mother whose newborn son had developed jaundice. Crib A'Glow has won ...

, a solar-powered device to treat

neonatal An infant or baby is the very young offspring of human beings. ''Infant'' (from the Latin word ''infans'', meaning 'unable to speak' or 'speechless') is a formal or specialised synonym for the common term ''baby''. The terms may also be used to ...

as well as incubators and diaper rash creams for preterm babies. Tiny Hearts is composed of

biomedical engineers Biomedicine (also referred to as Western medicine, mainstream medicine or conventional medicine)

, designers, and

medical professionals A health professional, healthcare professional, or healthcare worker (sometimes abbreviated HCW) is a provider of health care treatment and advice based on formal training and experience. The field includes those who work as a nurse, physician (su ...

. The organization coordinates the Yellow Alert Program, an initiative that educates and raises awareness of neonatal jaundice among health workers and women. Virtue Oboro serves as the director of innovation, at Tiny Hearts Technology.

Cribs A'Glow

The

is a portable, affordable phototherapy device made in

. The innovation is recognized around the world and has saved 550,000 babies in more than 500 hospitals across

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

, and

Benin Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north ...

. In order to facilitate infant recovery,

hospital A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emerge ...

health centers A healthcare center, health center, or community health center is one of a network of clinics staffed by a group of general practitioners and nurses providing healthcare services to people in a certain area. Typical services covered are family pr ...

, and first-time

mother ] A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given childbirth, birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the cas ...

s purchase or rent cribs. COVID-19 caused a high demand for cribs, as parents wanted to avoid hospitals while caring for their newborns.

Awards

Virtue's Tiny Hearts Technology and Crib A'Glow innovation won a $50,000 prize as the winner of the African Innovation Challenge 2.0 by

Johnson & Johnson Johnson & Johnson (J&J) is an American multinational corporation founded in 1886 that develops medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and consumer packaged goods. Its common stock is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the company i ...

and the

Unilever Unilever plc is a British multinational consumer goods company with headquarters in London, England. Unilever products include food, condiments, bottled water, baby food, soft drink, ice cream, instant coffee, cleaning agents, energy drink, t ...

Young Entrepreneurs Award. In 2020, her company was awarded the third-place prize for digital innovation by the American Business Council and the United States Chamber of Commerce. She was selected to compete for the

Royal Academy of Engineering The Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng) is the United Kingdom's national academy of engineering. The Academy was founded in June 1976 as the Fellowship of Engineering with support from Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who became the first senior ...

's Africa Prize in 2022. Also, she was awarded the Mandela Washington Fellow, the Sterling Bank Startups(2nd place), and the

Diamond Bank Diamond Bank Plc., was a Nigerian multinational financial service provider. Diamond Bank was acquired by Access Bank in December 2018, and announced to complete the transactions of the merger fully in the first half of 2019. On 1 April 2019, ...

awards.

Works

* Oboro, Virtue & Xia, Guobin. (2022). User Experience Design- A conceptual campaign to launch a crowdfunding web platform for color light therapy. User Experience Seminar Presentation. 10.13140/RG.2.2.33205.96486 * Oboro Virtue(2022). Changes in

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlanta ...

from the Pandemic. Change Management Seminar at

. 10.13140/RG.2.2.29850.52168 * Oboro, Virtue. (2022). Change Management. Change Management Seminar at

. 10.13140/RG.2.2.23139.6352 * Oboro, Virtue & Xia, Guobin. (2022). UXD Research Project. 10.13140/RG.2.2.19784.19205. * Oboro, Virtue. (2022). An Empathic Design Approach on the

(

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

borders) main hall. Conference: Design Thinking and Innovation.

Gallery

File:Virtue Oboro and her Invention(Crib A'Glow).jpg File:Crib A'Glow in a Hospital.jpg File:Baby in Crib A'Glow.jpg

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oboro, Virtue Living people 21st-century Nigerian businesspeople 21st-century Nigerian women 21st-century Nigerian artists Year of birth missing (living people)