President Obama Taps ANPA Member, Dr. Funmi Olopade, for Key White House Post

Olufunmilayo Falusi Olopade, MD, FACP

Nigerian-born Chicagoan and ANPA member, Olufunmilayo Falusi Olopade, MD, FACP, has been appointed by President Barack Obama to the National Cancer Advisory Board. The Board advises the administration with respect to the activities of the National Cancer Institute, including reviewing and recommending for support grants and cooperative agreements, following technical and scientific peer review.

Dr. Olopade is an alumnus of the University of Ibadan College of Medicine, Ibadan, Nigeria, where she received the MBBS degree in 1980. News of her appointment has set off jubilation among ANPA members who hold her as one of the organization's shining stars. ANPA President, Dr. Fiemu Nwariaku congratulated Dr. Olopade for her great achievement and expressed gratitude to President Obama for an appointment that he said was clearly based on merit. According to Dr. Nwariaku, this is a fine example of the contribution that thousands of Nigerian-born physicians are making to improve the health of their fellow citizens.

Also, the Ibadan College of Medicine Alumni Association, (ICOMAA) through it's president, Dr. Benedictus Ajayi, released a statement praising Dr. Olopade for doing her home country proud and  for flying "an unstained Nigerian flag". Dr. Olopade, he added, "has never forgotten her roots .... and has continued to work relentlessly to ensure that our Alma Mater becomes one of the world's best".

In naming her to this top administration post, the White House released the following citation:

Olufunmilayo Falusi Olopade is the Walter L. Palmer Distinguished Service Professor of Medicine & Human Genetics, Associate Dean for Global Health, and Director of the Center for Clinical Cancer Genetics at the University of Chicago. She is also a practicing clinician and Director of the University's Cancer Risk Clinic. In her clinical work, Dr. Olopade is an authority on cancer risk assessment, prevention, and individualized treatment based on risk factors and quality of life. She also works with educators, doctors, government officials and pharmaceutical companies to improve access to quality education and medical care in low-income communities. Dr. Olopade has received numerous professional honors and awards, including the MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, the ASCO Young Investigator Award, the James S. McDonnell Foundation Scholar Award, and the Doris Duke Distinguished Clinical Scientist Award, among others. She holds an M.B.B.S. from the University of Ibadan in Nigeria, completed her residency in internal medicine at Cook County Hospital in Chicago, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in hematology and oncology at the University of Chicago.