April 17, (THEWILL) – The Chief Medical Director of Medical Assisted Reproduction Technology, (MART) and Healthcare Services, Prof Oladapo Ashiru has emerged the first black Secretary-General of International Federation of Fertility Societies (IFFS) Executive Council for 2022. His tenure which will last for three years, ends in 2025.
IFFS is a long-standing global organisation representing National Fertility Societies since 1968. The world body on fertility is in an official relationship with the World Health Organization, WHO. The organization encompasses an estimated 50,000 physicians and reproduction medicine specialists worldwide including various healthcare professionals.
Prof Ashiru is the only African in the new Executive Council of the global organisation. His focus as part of the Executive Council is on improved reproductive health throughout the globe, provision of opportunities to share cutting-edge research and exploration of new ideas.
The renowned professor of Anatomy has scored a few ‘firsts’ in his sojourn in the medical world. He was the first youngest professor ever appointed in medicine in Nigeria. He was responsible for the birth of the first tube baby in Nigeria and West-Africa, though he was assisted by his colleague, Prof Giwa-Osagie. The baby was born in 1989, as a result of their unique work on the technique of In-vitro fertilization. They both pioneered IVF and embryo transfer in West Africa. Ashiru was also the first to record a successful live birth of a sickle cell free baby through the technique of pre-implantation genetic testing (PGT). Trained at the College of Medicine, University of Lagos, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery in 1974, he obtained his master’s degree in Anatomy from the University of Nebraska in 1978 and a Ph.D. in Anatomy from the same University in 1979. He is fondly referred to as the father of In-Vitro fertilization (IVF) in West Africa.
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