Undergrad – UC Davis
Medical School – Mayo Clinic College of Medicine
Associate Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery; Shoulder Section Head
Q: Where did you grow up?
A: I moved a lot but spent my early years in California and Nigeria (Ages 4-13).
Q: Where will your orthopaedics specialty advance in the next five years?
A: Continued transition to the ASC; Improved understanding of biologics and cellular treatment of shoulder diseases; Significantly increased use of software-enabled tools such as VR/AR/Robotics.
Q: What excites you about your role at Duke?
A: The opportunity for growth as a person, surgeon, friend, and professional. The ability to positively influence the next generations of surgeons. The research opportunities. The broad scope of practice and complexity of surgeries.
Q: What are your current research goals or projects?
A: I have a lot of research goals, but I am most excited about my basic science research evaluating the tendon and muscle responses to rotator cuff tendon injury. Through this research, we aim to develop therapies to decrease the rate of permanent deleterious changes that happen after injury.
Q: What brings you joy?
A: Personally, it’s my dog Apollo, girlfriend, friends and family, fitness, traveling, reading, writing nonmedical materials, cooking, and being positive towards others. On a professional level, I like to help those in need. There is nothing like patient gratitude to inspire others who look and don’t look like me, to be impactful to medicine in whatever little way I can, and to be surrounded by great colleagues who push me to be the best I can be.
Q: Are you involved in extracurricular activities or associations?
A: I am, formally and informally, very involved in diversity, equity, and inclusion activities with many institutions such as Nth Dimensions, the Robert Gladden Society, and the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeon Society.
I am very involved in the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeon Society (ASES) as the secretary of the research committee, member of the foundation committee, and chair of their diversity committee and young scholars committee.
I am head of the shoulder surgery section at Duke, which allows me to galvanize our exceptional surgeons to benefit the patients, trainees, department, and hospital system.