Bosede Afolabi, a professor, is an Obstetrician and Gynaecologist and current Head of the Department, Obstetrics and Gynaecology Department at the College of Medicine, University of Lagos, and the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Lagos, Nigeria. She is also the founder and chairperson of MRH (Maternal and Reproductive Health) Research Collective, a research and training NGO and the first Vice President of the Association of Fetomaternal Medicine of Nigeria (AFEMSON).
She is passionate about the advancement of women’s health and the reduction of maternal mortality in Nigeria. Her interests are in maternal medicine, including sickle cell pregnancy, anaemia in pregnancy, pregnancy-induced hypertension and cardiac disease in pregnancy, minimal access surgery, general gynaecology, including infertility, endometriosis, uterine fibroids and polycystic ovarian syndrome.
Bosede is the Principal Investigator and co-PI of research grants worth more than $15 million USD, and has authored more than 108 peer-reviewed publications focusing on maternal medicine and safe delivery, including sickle cell pregnancy. She is on the editorial boards of several journals including Reproductive Health and the Journal of the West African College of Surgeons, and is a PhD examiner at the Pan African University of Life and Earth Sciences and the University of Benin.
She has collaborated with various international academics, including researchers from the Universities of Nottingham, UK, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Belgium, and Harvard University.
Reflecting, she says it is a very significant milestone to have completed a major clinical trial, the largest on the topic of intravenous versus oral iron in pregnancy worldwide, in 11 hospitals in two Nigerian states. “I am very proud of the team of over 80 co-Investigators, statisticians, data managers, coordinating doctors, research nurses, research assistants, administrative staff, finance officers, legal advisers, consultants and supervisors that were involved in this project.
I am also grateful to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for trusting us with this work. The utmost gratitude and praise goes to the wonderful pregnant Nigerian women, who graciously participated in this rigorous clinical trial.” She said.
In 2021, Bosede was awarded a Special Recognition Award by the ‘Physician of The Year Award Committee’ for her commitment and dedication to healthcare in Nigeria.
In November 2022, she received the ‘Excellence in Research’ award from the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Nigeria (SOGON). She was a speaker at the Goalkeepers event during the UN General Assembly in New York, September 2023.
Afolabi chairs the board of the Kensington Adebukola Adebutu Foundation (KAAF), Laboratory and Maternity Centre, the Maternal and Reproductive Health Research Collective (MRHRC) and is a member of the board of Redwire Marketing Group.
She is the President of the Association of Fetomaternal Medicine Specialists of Nigeria.
