Doyin Oluwole experienced the miracle of life as a young girl in Nigeria. Her mother was trained as a midwife by an American missionary and worked at a private facility behind her home, where she took care of children and delivered babies in a small clinic. Mrs. Oluwole would often allow her daughter to stay in the room with her and see the babies being delivered.
A Passion to Practice Medicine
“That grew my interest in medicine,” Dr. Oluwole says. “To see a woman in labor screaming and to see that little life pop out. The joy of seeing that woman deliver the baby.” Doyin wasted no time pursuing her own medical career. She wanted nothing more than to follow in her mother’s footsteps so she decided to become a pediatrician.
Earning a medical degree with honors from the University of Lagos and a membership of the Royal College of Physicians from the University of Edinburgh, Dr. Oluwole went on to pursue her career in medicine as the head of pediatrics at a medical school in Nigeria. Through her work, she began to witness a trend in the children she treated. “Out of my clinical research I found that a lot of children were coming in sick and were terminally ill,” she said. Determined to discover what was responsible for this trend, Dr. Oluwole decided to do some investigating. “I went right out there to the community to see what was going on- with mothers, with the environment and with these children,” she said. “I found that mothers were ignorant, they were not there, they were illiterate, or they were sick. As time went on, I thought that thoroughly addressing the women and focusing on these women and making sure that the mother is well, is healthy and is alive would be the best way to ensure a survivor of a child.”
Dr. Oluwole continued her mission at the World Health Organization in 1995 where she was made the director of the child survivor program in the African region for ten years. During her time with the organization, Dr. Oluwole refocused her research on women’s health. She explored women during each stage of pregnancy, labor and delivery to try to understand the root of the problem that she was witnessing in these sick children. In 2006, Dr. Oluwole received a call from Washington D.C. asking her to lead the health program at Family Health International (now known as FHI360) as director of the Center for Health Policy and Capacity Development. She thought this position would provide an excellent opportunity to further advance her research, so she accepted and worked for the non-profit organization for six years.
An Invitation to Practice in Dallas
In 2012, Dr. Oluwole received an email from Dallas offering her a position at the George W. Bush Institute to head the Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon (PRRR) initiative, addressing women’s cancers in Africa and Latin America. After researching the work of President Bush and his team at the institute with HIV, AIDS, and malaria in Africa, Dr. Oluwole recognized how addressing the spread of HIV in Africa could improve children’s lives. She explained, “I thought if I can help reverse that trend, it would be great. So that’s why I took this job.”
Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon works in conjunction with PEPFAR (the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief) to screen women for cervical cancer, because women who have HIV are four to five times more likely to contract cervical cancer. The Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon initiative was created in September of 2011, joining PEPFAR, the George W. Bush Institute, the U.S. Department of State, Susan G. Komen for the Cure and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS. Its mission is to use government and private money to combat cervical and breast cancer, which are two of the leading causes of cancer death in women, in developing nations in Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America. “I was never initially focused on cervical and breast cancer but I am now. And I see that it is a good thing to do because HIV positive women are now surviving from HIV infection,” said Dr. Oluwole.
Dr. Oluwole became executive director of Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon on February 14, 2012. Dr. Oluwole works with the PRRR partners and manages staff members to ensure efficiency and coordination. “Doyin is the most caring and nurturing woman to work for,” said her assistant, Andre Dowd. “Not only does she care about this initiative and the women and children she is fighting for, but she cares just as much about the people she works with and each of our well-beings.”
Dr. Oluwole’s main goals with the organization include expanding the availability of cervical cancer screening and treatment, particularly for high-risk HIV-positive women, as well as promoting breast cancer education. Long term, the organization hopes to reduce deaths from cervical cancer by an estimated 25% among women screened and treated through the initiative, to increase access to breast and cervical cancer prevention, screening and treatment, and to create innovative models that can be scaled up and used globally.
A Nod From Former First Lady Laura Bush
Dr. Oluwole is not only admired locally, but she is also highly respected on a national level. During a recent trip to Washington D.C. for a global cancer summit, Dr. Oluwole was given a special mention during by former First Lady Laura Bush for her achievement and was praised by others as well. “Working closely with a cancer organization myself, I have a lot of respect for the work that Doyin is doing in Africa and Latin America to educate women about cervical and breast cancer,” said Eva La Rue, national spokesperson for Beckstrand Cancer Foundation. “She’s a brilliant woman who is fighting for change and determined to make a difference, which is admirable.”
Looking back on her career, Dr. Oluwole said the biggest obstacle she encountered was the lack of education. “When people are more educated, they are more responsive and willing to help with issues,” she says. Educated people are aware of problems and are capable of acting to prevent those problems. In addition, the lack of health education in Africa has prevented mothers from properly caring for their babies, as they don’t have adequate income or resources to provide for their children. “That has always been an issue on my mind. But I have never allowed it to depress me or discourage me because at every stage I did the best with what I had,” she says.
Dr. Groesbeck Parham, founding director of the African Center of Excellence for Women’s Cancer Control, livesand works in Zambia where he is helping to develop the country’s first national comprehensive cervical cancer control program. Dr. Parham works closely with Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon and is keenly aware of the contribution that Dr. Oluwole has made to the initiative. “Doyin Oluwole is the type of woman we need if we are going to conquer this disease,” he says. “Cervical cancer is one of the leading causes of death in women and it is essential to have programs like these and leaders like Doyin in order to make a change and save lives.”
A Rewarding Career
Although she has experienced many challenges in her medical career, after 36 years Dr. Oluwole has also witnessed some unforgettable moments that have inspired her and continued to motivate her to do more. As a clinical pediatrician in Nigeria, she took care of a newborn baby who weighed only one kilogram and was in the intensive care ward. Everyone told her that the baby would never survive, but she didn’t take that for an answer. She nurtured the baby until she weighed three kilograms and was well enough to go home with her mother. That was one of the first moments that she realized she really could make a difference in the world.
Next up for Dr. Oluwole: She is planning a global cancer summit in Africa this summer with President Bush and the former first lady to advance the goals of the Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon initiative. With four grown children pursuing degrees and careers in various states across the country, Dr. Oluwole continues to focus her efforts on the children who need her the most.
