Akinyinka O. Omigbodun, clinician and scientist, is Professor of Obstetrics & Gynaecology at the College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Professor of Reproductive Health Sciences at the Pan African University Life & Earth Sciences Institute (PAULESI) and Consultant Obstetrician & Gynaecologist at the University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria. He is a Fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Science (FAS), a Fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Medicine and a Fellow ad eundem of the Royal College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists of the United Kingdom. He was Provost of the College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, pioneer Chairman of the Board of Management of the Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa (CARTA), which was founded to strengthen research capacity in Africa’s higher educational institutions, and Past President of the West African College of Surgeons (WACS), the largest surgical College in Africa. He is a former Chairman of the Regional Council for Health Professionals’ Education (RCHPE), in the Economic Community of West African States’ (ECOWAS) Region. He is a member of the Scientific Committee of the global science programme on Urban Health and Wellbeing of the International Science Council (ISC).

Professor Omigbodun has practised as a specialist Obstetrician & Gynaecologist for nearly 35 years. He has trained and mentored many residents specialising in the discipline. He has served as an examiner for the National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria and the West African College of Surgeons for nearly thirty years. He has supervised the fellowship dissertation of fourteen specialists as well as three doctoral theses. He currently has five doctoral students being supervised by him for PhD or MD degrees.

Professor Omigbodun’s research was initially focused on the prevention of cervical cancer, the commonest malignancy in the female reproductive tract. He also undertook basic science research into the mechanisms of trophoblastic invasion in the uterus as a means of understanding how gestational trophoblastic diseases may arise. He later extended his research into medical education, surgical safety and urban health.

Professor Omigbodun leads several funded research projects, including those focused on improving access to health services in underserved communities, especially urban slums. He is the Nigerian Lead for ‘Improving Health in Slums Collaborative’ and the REaCH Clinical Trial. He is also a member of the African Perioperative Research Group (APORG) and the COVIDSurg Collaborative.