Bosede Bukola Afolabi

Bosede Bukola Afolabi is a UK-born Nigerian Gynaecologist, Professor, and Head of Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the College of Medicine, Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Lagos, Nigeria. She is the founder and chairperson of the Maternal and Reproductive Health Research Collective (MRHRC), a research and training NGO. She is also the Director at the Centre for Clinical Trials, Research and Implementation Science (CCTRIS).

Education and training

Bosede Afolabi graduated from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, in 1992. She proceeded to the University of Nottingham, U.K., where she was awarded a tuition scholarship to pursue a Doctor of Medicine (DM) degree part-time. Her primary research entitled Plasma volume in normal and sickle cell pregnancies was accepted. She earned a DM in Obstetrics and Gynaecology from the University of Nottingham in June 2011.

She is a medical educator with a diploma from the Foundation for the Advancement of International Medical Education and Research, USA. In 2016, she obtained a Certificate in Biostatistics and Epidemiology from the Harvard T.Chan School of Public Health in Boston, U.S.

Career

Bosede served as Senior House Officer (SHO) in Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Central Middlesex Hospital, London, and Hull Royal Infirmary, North Yorkshire, and SHO and Specialist Registrar in many UK Hospitals, before returning to Lagos, Nigeria in 1998.

Bosede became a Senior Registrar for the Obstetrics and Gynecology Department at Lagos University Teaching Hospital in 2000 and later became a Consultant Obstetrician and Gynecologist in 2002, where she continues to serve until the present day. In addition, she joined the College of Medicine at the University of Lagos as a Lecturer II; she progressed through several promotions until 2016 when she became a professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. In 2018, she became the Head of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), a position she held until July 2021. In August 2022, she was reappointed to this position.

She holds the position of Director at the Centre for Clinical Trials, Research and Implementation Science (CCTRIS). She is also the Founder/Chairman at the Maternal and Reproductive Health Research Collective (MRHRC) and a board member of several institutions such as the Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital and the Chairman of the board of Kensington Adebukola Adebutu Foundation (KAAF), Laboratory and Maternity Centre. In July 2023, She was appointed as President of the Association of Fetomaternal Medicine Specialists of Nigeria (AFEMSON).

She was featured on CNN African Voices for her work in sickle cell pregnancy and her teaching, research, and clinical outcome in obstetrics and efforts to reduce maternal mortality. In addition, she has been featured on several platforms such as CNN, Arise TV, The Conversation, BBC, Daily Trust, The Punch, BellaNaija, Medical World Nigeria, Woman.ng, World Economic Forum and Quartz Africa.

In September 2023, she discussed several research innovations including the approach by her team at CCTRIS for rapidly and effectively treating iron deficiency anaemia in pregnancy, at the 2023 Goalkeepers event hosted by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation during the 78th United Nations General Assembly, #goalkeepers2023. A one-off intravenous iron infusion with the capacity to replenish a woman's iron reserves during or after pregnancy was among the innovations emphasised in the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) 2023 Goalkeepers report. This innovation has the potential to save the lives of two million women and children.

Bosede has authored 116 peer-reviewed publications on various medical topics, many of which include Maternal medicine and Safe delivery. From October 2019 to June 2022, she served as the Assistant Editor of the Journal of the West African College of Surgeons. In June 2022, she became the Editor in Chief and occupied the position until December 2022. She is a PhD examiner of the Pan African University of Life and Earth Sciences, and has supervised 22 postgraduate thesis and is currently supervising 5 PHD students. She has collaborated with various international academics, including researchers from the Universities of Nottingham and Greenwich, UK, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Belgium, Karolinska Institute, Sweden, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Harvard School of Public Health and Northeastern University USA.

Scholarship and grants

Bosede's research focuses on improving maternal health. She founded the Maternal and Reproductive Health Research Collective, a research and training NGO established to reduce the rate of pregnancy-related illness and death and improve the reproductive health of Nigerian women, through research, advocacy, and training programs.

Bosede continues to reinforce her passion for childbearing, sickle cell and maternal mortality, which reflects in her many publications, interviews, and research articles on the topic. She is a member of the Sickle Cell Foundation of Nigeria.

These have formed the basis for various grants, fellowships, scholarships, and accolades from multiple bodies. Bosede is the principal investigator on a Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation grant for the IVON trial (Intravenous versus oral iron for iron deficiency anaemia in pregnant Nigerian women: a randomized controlled trial) as well as Country Principal Investigator on a grant for a study titled Preparedness and response to COVID-19: a global survey of maternal care providers - In-depth case study of large referral maternity wards in four countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

Bosede is also the principal investigator for the PIPSICKLE Trial (Low dose aspirin for the prevention of intrauterine growth restriction and preeclampsia: a randomized controlled trial, (2020-2022) granted by TETFUND NRF. She is also the Country Principal Investigator for a randomized controlled trial on screening of Peripartum Cardiomyopathies using Artificial Intelligence (SPEC -AI) in Nigeria (2022-2023).

Honours

In 2021, Bosede was awarded a Special Recognition Award by the Physician of The Year Award Committee for her Commitment and Dedication. In November 2022, she received the "Excellence in Research" award from the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Nigeria (SOGON). In addition, she served as the Ojo Memorial Lecturer at SOGON's 56th Annual Scientific Conference.