Maureen Okam-Achebe, daughter of renowned novelist Chinua Achebe, has earned the Brigham and Women’s Hospital 2024 Faculty Development and Diversity award.
The Brigham and Women’s Hospital, located in Boston, Massachusetts, is a world-class academic medical institution and Harvard Medical School’s flagship teaching facility.
According to a post posted by Chidi Achebe, Okam-Achebe’s sibling and chairman of African Integrated Development Enterprise Public Benefit Corporation (AIDE PBC), the hospital notified her of her honour by letter on July 2.
The letter reads:
“The 2024 Faculty Awards designation acknowledges the exceptional achievements of BWH faculty in one or more of the four pillars of academic life; clinical care, research, education, and community service.”
Okam-Achebe received her initial medical degree from the University of Port Harcourt in Nigeria, haematology and medical oncology training at Yale School of Medicine. She also had a master’s degree in public health from Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
The doctor is also an associate professor at Harvard Medical School, director of the Brigham and Women’s Hospital Outpatient Infusion Centre, clinical director of the Non-Malignant Haematology Clinic, director of the Brigham and Women’s Hospital sickle cell programme, and a Harvard Medical School lecturer.
The medical expert co-chairs the American Society of Haematology (ASH) consortium’s data panel on African newborn screening for sickle cell disease (SCD).
The subcommittee aims to demonstrate the benefits of SCD screening and early intervention, which are now undertaken in seven Sub-Saharan African countries.
Okam-Achebe is also a commissioner on the Lancet Noncommunicable Disease and Injuries (NCDI) Nigeria Poverty Commission. There, she advises on the identification and prioritisation of policies, interventions, and integrated delivery platforms to effectively address and reduce the country’s SCD burden.
The specialist is actively involved in clinical trials and translational research at BWH, and he was an investigator in the development of two of the most recently authorised SCD medications by the US FDA.
According to the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Okam-Achebe will be recognised for her achievements on October 28th.