Jeph Ajobaju in FeaturedForeign NewsNEWS

Maureen Achebe wins Harvard Medical School/Brigham and Women’s Hospital Award

Maureen Achebe

Maureen Achebe wins prestigious award, following in the footsteps of her famous father-in-law, Chinua Achebe, and his children.

By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor

Maureen Okam-Achebe, daughter-in-law of literary giant, late Chinua Achebe, has won the Harvard Medical School/Brigham and Women’s Hospital Award.

She follows in the footsteps of her father-in-law who won numerous literary awards before his death in 2013, just as her laurel came after those of her husband, Chidi Achebe, and sister-in-law, Nwando.

Maureen is married to Achebe’s second son, Chidi, a professor of medicine, who won the John and Samuel Bard Award in the United States for excellence in medicine and science in 2022.

Nwando Achebe, a professor of history, was named one of 46 American Council on Education (ACE) Fellows for academic year 2022-23.

Maureen is an Associate Professor, Harvard Medical School, Director, Harvard University’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital Outpatient Infusion Center; Clinical Director, Non-Malignant Hematology Clinic. And Director, Brigham and Women’s Hospital Sickle Cell Program and Instructor in Medicine, Harvard Medical School.

Okam-Achebe is also a triple-board certified expert in Medical Oncology, Hematology, and Internal Medicine. She is an alumnus of University of Port Harcourt Medical School and the M.T. Chan Harvard School of Public Health.

Biography

Okam-Achebe, MD, MPH is Clinical Director of Hematology Services at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Dana Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI) and an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School (HMS).

Her area of excellence is Clinical Expertise and Innovation centered on the care of patients with hematologic conditions, sickle cell disease and iron deficiency, in particular.

She earned her Bachelor of Medical Science and medical degrees from the University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria; Hematology and Medical Oncology training at Yale School of Medicine and a Masters in Public Health at Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

As Director of BWH Comprehensive Sickle Cell Center program, she is responsible for supervising the health maintenance and acute care of 200 adult individuals with sickle cell disease (SCD) as well as clinical trials in other research in SCD. She also has a particular interest in iron deficiency, in pregnancy and other situations.

As Clinical Director of Hematology services, she oversees the clinical operations and implementation of new models of care in patients with non-malignant hematology conditions at BWH and DFCI.

Okam-Achebe works with the American Society of Hematology (ASH) to bring hematology care internationally.

She is a member of the Consortium of Newborn Screening in Africa (CONSA) currently running a demonstration project of newborn detection and early intervention in SCD in seven African countries – Ghana, Tanzania, Kenya, Zambia, Nigeria, Uganda and Liberia.

She is also Associate Director of SCD integration for WHO PEN Plus, an integrated care delivery strategy in low to middle income countries.

As part of her health equity work, she is working on a Doris Duke Foundation sponsored project to incorporate Duffy-null status into clinical algorithms to improve health equity for Duffy-null individuals.

She worked with colleagues to establish a reference range for Duffy-null neutrophil count that is operational in BWH.

Education

University of Port Harcourt Medical School, 1991-1995

Harvard School of Public Health, 2005-2008

Residency

Easton Hospital, 1998-2001

Board Certifications

Internal Medicine, 2001

Hematology, 2004

Oncology 2005

Fellowship

Yale-New Haven Hospital, 2001-2004