Meet Dr. Olutoye Oluyinka who successfully removed tumour from a baby in her mother’s womb
Meet Dr. Olutoye Oluyinka who successfully removed tumour from a baby in her mother’s womb
Dr. Olutoye Oluyinka is a distinguished Nigerian pediatric surgeon and medical researcher renowned for his pioneering work in fetal surgery.
He gained international acclaim in 2016 when he and his team successfully operated on a baby in utero, removing a life-threatening tumor and then returning the baby to the womb, where she continued to develop until birth.
Educated in Nigeria and the United States, Dr. Oluyinka has held prominent positions, including co-director of the Texas Children’s Fetal Center and later as the chief of surgery at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Ohio.
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Early Life
Professor Oluyinka Olutoye, born in Lagos, Nigeria, on January 15, 1967, into a family with a long history in academics and the military from Idoani, Ose local government in Ondo state. His father, Major General (rtd) Olufemi Olutoye, was a well-known military commander and traditional leader and his mother, Professor Omotayo Olutoye, was an academic. Olutoye’s early ambitions to become a doctor were inspired by his upbringing in this environment, which gave him a burning desire for perfection.
He completed his primary education at Lagos University Staff School, before going on to King’s College Lagos for his secondary education. After that, he attended Obafemi Awolowo University in Ile-Ife, where he obtained his medical degree (MBChB) and graduated as the class valedictorian in 1988.
Following his medical studies in Nigeria, Olutoye relocated to the United States to begin his postgraduate training in paediatrics at Howard University General Hospital and received his Ph.D. in Anatomy from Virginia Commonwealth University in 1996. Afterward, he did his general surgery residency at the Medical College of Virginia Hospital before specializing in pediatric surgery during his fellowship at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania.
Career and Surgical Breakthroughs
The surgical achievement that made Professor Olutoye famous worldwide was the successful removal of a massive tumour called a sacrococcygeal teratoma from a 23-week-old fetus. He performed this complex treatment which involved briefly removing the fetus from the womb, removing the tumour, and then returning the fetus to the womb to continue developing at Texas Children’s Fetal Center. The baby, Lynlee Boemer, was delivered via C-section many weeks later in good health.
His experience includes various speciality procedures for fetal and newborn disorders such as congenital diaphragmatic hernia, lung abnormalities, chest wall deformities, omphalocele, gastroschisis, and difficult wound management. His research interests are on inflammatory responses in fetal wound healing, with the goal of discovering techniques to improve results in the treatment of congenital abnormalities.
In 2015, Professor Olutoye Oluyinka and a team of Nigerian doctors received international prominence for successfully separating conjoined twins Knatalye Hope and Adeline Faith Mata in a complicated surgery that was enthusiastically celebrated. His success in these pioneering surgeries has given him a reputation for innovative feats, which was reinforced in 2016 when he led another team to save a fetus from a life-threatening tumour, demonstrating the possibility of life-saving surgeries even before birth.
Awards, Achievements, and Recognitions
Professor Olutoye’s efforts have been recognised both in Nigeria and beyond. His alma university, Obafemi Awolowo University, honoured him with the coveted Great Ife Alumni Award for Excellence in the Sciences and admitted him into the Hall of Distinction. Other awards include the Molecular Surgeon Research Achievement Award from Baylor College of Medicine’s Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery, the Mark A. Wallace Catalyst Leader of the Year Award from Texas Children’s Hospital, and the Denton A. Cooley Surgical Innovator Award.
President Muhammadu Buhari gave him Nigeria’s National Order of Merit (NNOM) Award in 2022, acknowledging his significant contributions to medicine. Beyond his achievements, Olutoye’s work has acted as an inspiration, demonstrating that life-saving medical treatments can be performed before birth, a watershed moment in contemporary medicine.
Vision
Research by Professor Olutoye is still concentrated on new approaches to fetal and neonatal surgery. His work as the pediatric surgery chair at The Ohio State University College of Medicine aims to improve outcomes for complicated congenital conditions and provide important new understandings of how inflammatory responses affect fetal repair. His research on animal models provides hope for addressing
severe congenital defects and reducing issues in newborn patients.
Individual Life
Professor Olutoye is married to Professor Olutoyin Olutoye, and the two of them have a daughter and a son. The family resides in the United States.
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