The final part of the 44th University Lecture series titled “From Cells to Systems: Building a Vibrant Academy,” will be delivered by Professor Akinyinka O. Omigbodun of the Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Faculty of Clinical Sciences, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan.
The concluding lecture, “Flourishing Cells in a Synergistic System,” is scheduled for Thursday May 30, 2024, at Trenchard Hall, University of Ibadan.
In this final Lecture, Professor Omigbodun will offer prescriptions on how to strengthen the educational system to further empower its individual components, ensuring that both the system and its members flourish synergistically. This promises to be an insightful session, building on the foundation laid in the previous lectures.
The first part of the Lecture, delivered on Thursday 16th May 2024, had the sub-title: “Cells, Organs & Systems: The Cell Engaging the System”. It described how cells come together to form tissues, organs and systems, with the cells working together to bring functionality to the system. The lecturer related how empowering a cell can have a profound impact on the system.
In the second part which was sub-titled “The System Nourishing the Cell”, delivered on Thursday 23rd May 2024, it was made clear that if the system were to remain healthy and optimal, the cells must be systematically nourished through capacity building to enhance their functionality. The University must take steps to improve the learning environment for all – undergraduates, postgraduates and life-long learners.
To this end, all students, faculty, staff, and interested members of the public are invited to attend the final part of this enlightening lecture series. Join us as Professor Omigbodun concludes his exploration of building a vibrant academy through the harmonious empowerment of its members.
Below are the details again:
PART III THEME: FLOURISHING CELLS IN A SYNERGISTIC SYSTEM
Date: Thursday May 30, 2024
Time: 5:00 PM
Venue: Trenchard Hall, University of Ibadan.
YouTube Link : Click Here
Join Zoom Meeting: Join Here
Meeting ID: 859 1893 6176
Passcode: UILECTURE.
Do not miss this opportunity to gain valuable insights into creating a more robust and supportive academic environment. We look forward to your presence and participation.
Thank you.
Biography of Professor Akinyinka Omokolapo Omigbodun
Akinyinka Omokolapo Omigbodun was born in his ancestral home in Osogbo, Osun State on Tuesday 26th May, 1959, to the family of Venerable Julius Ladunjoye and Chief Mrs Regina Olatide Omigbodun, both of blessed memory. He attended All Saints’ School, Osogbo, Loyola College Ibadan and The Polytechnic Ibadan, before matriculating at the University of Ibadan in September 1974 as a medical student. He graduated MBBS with Distinction in 1980, winning several prizes, including the May & Baker Prize as the best candidate in the first professional examination and the Adeola Odutola Travelling Fellowship for academic achievement and contribution to community life in the Medical School. The fellowship enabled him to undertake an elective rotation at the Kenyatta National Hospital and the University of Nairobi, Kenya.
After housemanship at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, he served as a National Youth Service Corps doctor in Kwara State. He worked briefly at the State Hospital, Osogbo before he commenced his postgraduate specialist training at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, Ilorin in September 1982. He transferred to the Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, UCH in September 1983 and completed his training by obtaining the Fellowship of the West African College of Surgeons (WACS) in October 1987, and that of the National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria (NPMCN) in May 1988. He won awards as the best candidate at the Part I Examinations of both Colleges in 1986. He was the sole successful candidate among the twenty-seven that sat for the Part I examination of the NPMCN in Obstetrics & Gynaecology in May 1986. He was at the University Hospital of South Manchester, Withington for subspecialty training in Gynaecological Oncology from 1990 to 1991. He was a postdoctoral research fellow in reproductive biology at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia from 1993 to 1997.
He started his teaching service at the University of Ibadan as a Demonstrator in Anatomy in 1977 and formally joined the academic staff of the Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology in March 1988. He was at the same time appointed Honorary Consultant Obstetrician & Gynaecologist to the University College Hospital, Ibadan. He was promoted Senior Lecturer in 1991 and attained the grade of Professor on 1st October 1997. He has served the University in several positions, including being Head of Department from 1997 to 1999, Hall Master of Alexander Brown Hall from 2000 to 2006 and Chairman of the University Senate Curriculum Committee from 2003 to 2006. He also served on several ad hoc and statutory committees of the College of Medicine before he assumed duties as the 8th Provost of the College of Medicine from 1st August 2006 to 31st July 2010. He superintended over the preparation and approval of the new integrated, competency-driven curriculum for the MBBS programme in March 2010, the first comprehensive review of the curriculum in more than three decades, which ushered in a separate professional examination in Psychiatry. All the other curricula in the College also commenced the process of revision during the period. He has been a visiting scholar to many universities, including the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, the University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica, and the University of The Gambia, Banjul. He has been a professor of reproductive health sciences at the Pan African University Life & Earth Sciences Institute (PAULESI) since 2013. He has supervised twelve Master of Science and five Doctor of Philosophy dissertations, and he is currently supervising five other PhD students. He has also supervised 16 Fellowship dissertations for the NPMCN and the WACS.
Akinyinka Omigbodun has made significant contributions to undergraduate and postgraduate education in Africa. Apart from training several cohorts of medical students at Ibadan, he has had the opportunity of participating in the training of students in other medical schools in Africa. He led the West African Biomedical Education Network, a partnership of six Universities participating in a programme to enhance the teaching skills of the academic staff of undergraduate schools of Medicine and allied health professions in the Anglophone countries of West Africa. The partnership started a Master of Science degree in Biomedical Education on a distance learning platform at the University of Ibadan in 2009. He has served on the Governing Council of Osun State University and the Board of Management of UNIOSUN Teaching Hospital. He also served as a member of the Medical & Dental Council of Nigeria, and of its Medical & Dental Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal. He was the Chairman of the Nigerian Medical Association in Oyo State from 1992 to 1993.
Akinyinka Omigbodun served as the pioneer Board Chairman (from 2010-2015) of the Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa (CARTA), an organization that puts emphasis on transdisciplinary research to solve Africa’s public health problems. He was the Chief Coordinator of College Courses at WACS from 2002 to 2014. He was the Faculty Chairman and Chief Examiner in Obstetrics & Gynaecology from 2003 to 2007 and served in many other positions before serving as the President of the West African College of Surgeons from 2015 to 2017, the first former trainee of WACS to become its president. Thus, he had the unique privilege of leading the medical college of his undergraduate training and the surgical college responsible for his postgraduate training. He was the Chairman of the Regional Council for Health Professionals’ Education (RCHPE) in the ECOWAS Region from 2017 to 2020. He has served as external examiner of students or assessors of academics in several universities in Nigeria, Ghana and the West Indies. He has also been an examiner for postgraduate specialist trainees at the WACS and NPMCN for the past 33 years.
Akinyinka Omigbodun has contributed to knowledge in his core area of gynaecological oncology and other aspects of health and medical education. He has researched into cellular mechanisms of uterine trophoblastic invasion, prevention of cervical cancer, surgical safety, reproductive & maternal health, and urban health. He has published more than 200 scholarly articles and book chapters; more than 90 of his publications have been cited at least ten times. He has been principal investigator or coinvestigator in several research projects that have attracted an aggregate of more than twenty million dollars in research grants to the University of Ibadan. He was the Editor-in-Chief of the Tropical Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology from 1999-2010 and the Proceedings of the Nigerian Academy of Science from 2015-2019. He is currently the Editor-in-Chief of the African Journal of Medicine and the Medical Sciences. He serves on the editorial advisory boards of several journals, including Global Health Science and Practice.
Akinyinka Omigbodun has been the recipient of many coveted international awards, including a training fellowship from the International Women’s Health Coalition in 1990, the Audrey Meyer Mars Fellowship of the American Cancer Society in 1992 and an award by the American Society for Reproductive Medicine at its 52nd Annual Conference in Boston in 1996, for distinct contribution to science. In September 2010, the Osun State Government of Nigeria bestowed the State’s Merit Award on Professor Omigbodun for his contributions to the Science and Practice of Medicine. In January 2012, he was elected a Fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Science (FAS). In March 2017, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists of the United Kingdom ad eundem, one of only ten Nigerians to have been so honoured since the RCOG was established about 75 years ago. He was elected a Foundation Fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Medicine in 2020 and of the Academy of Medicine Specialties of Nigeria in 2021. He is a member of the Scientific Committee, the global science programme on Urban Health and Wellbeing of the International Science Council (ISC) and the Urban Health Working Group of the Inter Academy Partnership (IAP). He is a member of several professional and scientific organizations, including the Society of Gynaecology & Obstetrics of Nigeria (SOGON), the African Organization for Research and Training in Cancer (AORTIC), the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) and the International Society for Urban Health (ISUH).
Akinyinka Omigbodun is married to Olayinka Olusola Omigbodun, Nigeria’s first female Professor of Psychiatry, and they are blessed with adult children and a grandchild. The family is abundantly blessed with musical talent. Akinyinka plays several musical instruments, and he has composed some music pieces, including the anthem of the West African College of Surgeons.