Elebute-Odunsi Appointed Distinguished Fellow in LUTH’s Dept of Haematology and Blood Transfusion

The Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Marcelle Ruth Cancer & Specialist Hospital, Dr. Modupe Elebute-Odunsi, has been appointed a Distinguished Fellow, with the rank of Associate Professor, in the Department of Haematology & Blood Transfusion at Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH).

Elebute-Odunsi, who is also the Founder/Chair, Board of Trustees, Women In Healthcare Network (WIHCN), disclosed this on her LinkedIn page yesterday.

She wrote: “I am truly excited to share that I have been appointed Distinguished Fellow, with the rank of Associate Professor, in the Department of Haematology & Blood Transfusion at Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH).

“With this appointment, I feel like I have come ‘full circle’! It feels particularly meaningful not only because teaching has always been a passion of mine but also because it continues a family connection – my late father, Prof. Adeyemo Elebute, served as Professor of Surgery and my mother, Prof. Oyinade Elebute, as Professor of Physiology; both contributing to teaching several generations of students at LUTH. It is indeed an honour and a privilege to be given the opportunity to follow in their footsteps.

“It also feels like ‘full circle’ to be appointed by my alma mater: I qualified with the class of 1986 (just before my 21st birthday) and proceeded to postgraduate training in Internal Medicine and Haematology-Oncology in the UK.”

She added: “Five years ago, following plenty of planning and with enormous support from my husband and children, I made the very bold step to relocate to Nigeria to co-found the Marcelle Ruth Cancer Centre & Specialist Hospital (MRCC), a trusted one-stop centre for cancer care and specialist medicine in West Africa, serving over 5,000 patients to date. MRCC was accredited last year by the National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria to offer a residency programme in Clinical and Radiation Oncology, in partnership with LUTH.

“It has been almost five years of grit, hard work, resilience, laced with doubts and moments of despair, but today I am truly excited, truly honoured and truly grateful for this recognition by the academic leadership of my medical college – a great opportunity to give back, to teach, and to conduct research in the same faculty where I fell in love with the science of Haematology.

“I am deeply grateful to Prof. Folasade Ogunsola, Vice Chancellor of UNILAG, together with Mrs. Victoria Wickliffe, Registrar, Prof. Ademola Oremosu, Provost of the College of Medicine and Prof. Fatima Abdulkareem, Dean, Faculty of Basic Clinical Sciences, for their nomination and support.

“I humbly dedicate this recognition to my many mentors, supervisors, colleagues, the incredible staff of Marcelle Ruth who strive daily despite the odds to deliver excellent standards of care to our patients and, in particular, from the bottom of my heart, to my husband and children without whose unrelenting support none of this would have been achievable.

This milestone inspires me to continue working to improve access to world-class healthcare here at home.”