Taofeek Owonikoko
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Taofeek Kunle Owonikoko | |
|---|---|
| Born | |
| Alma mater | |
| Scientific career | |
| Institutions | Emory University Johns Hopkins University |
| Thesis | Genetische Heterogenität in Adenokarzinomen des Ösophagus (2000) |
Taofeek Kunle Owonikoko is an American physician who is Professor and Vice-Chair for Faculty Development, Department of Haematology and Medical Oncology at the Winship Cancer Institute. His research considers small cell lung cancer. He was a 2019 Emory University Woodruff Leadership Academy Fellow.[1]
Owonikoko is from Nigeria. He attended the Obafemi Awolowo University, where he specialised in medicine.[citation needed] Owonikoko completed his residency at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital. In 1998 he was awarded a German research fellowship to join Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf.[citation needed] Whilst in Germany Owonikoko earned a doctoral degree in anatomical pathology.[2]
Research and career
In 2001 Owonikoko joined Johns Hopkins University as a postdoctoral fellow, where he worked in molecular imaging.[3] Owonikoko was designated as a Distinguished Cancer Scholar in the Georgia Cancer Coalition in 2008. That year he joined Emory University as an associate professor.[4]
He specialises in small cell lung cancer.[citation needed] He leads clinical trials into novel immunotherapy drugs, which can be used to treat aggressive and recurrent cancers.[5] He has studied the efficacy of talazoparib as a treatment for small cell lung cancer patients with homologous recombination repair deficiency.[6]
Owonikoko has called for more people of color to be involved with clinical cancer trials.[7] In particular, Black patients are below 4% of patients involved in clinical trials for lung cancer.[7] He believes that this underrepresentation perpetuates healthcare outcome inequality.[7]