MBBS (London), MRCP (UK), FCPath Haem (SA), MPhil (UP), FRCP (Edin) PhD
Seest thou a man diligent in his duties? He shall stand before kings; He shall not stand before mean
men'. Unequivocally, this popular proverbial verse of the bible aptly describes the newly sworn-in Lagos
State Commissioner for Health, Professor Emmanuel Akinola Abayomi. Prof. Abayomi is a 59 year old
experienced and versatile Medical Doctor who specializes in Internal Medicine and Haematology,
Environmental Health and Biobanking. He has served as a Lecturer and Practitioner in Africa as well as
the West Indies and written numerous research publications on Cancer, Diabetes and Sickle Cell Anemia.
He obtained a MBBS degree from the Royal Medical College of St Bartholomew's Hospital in the
University of London, United Kingdom in 1983 and a Master of Philosophy (M.Phil) in Ecology and
Environmental Health Management from the University of Pretoria, South Africa in 2006.
Prior to obtaining his MPhil, Dr. Akinola Abayomi was a Consultant Haematologist and Lecturer at the
University of Zimbabwe Medical School and Harare Group of Teaching Hospitals, between 1994 and
1998. He was also Chief Physician at the Princess Maina Hospital, Gabarone, Botswana in 1998.
A fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (2010) and the Royal College of Pathologists of
the United Kingdom (2013), Prof. Abayomi was the Consultant Haematologist, Faculty of Medicine &
Research, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, University of West Indies, Bridgetown, Barbados from 1998-2006.
Between 2006 and 2008, he was a Bone Marrow Transplant Research Fellow at the University of
Stellenbosch as well as a Consultant Clinical Haematologist, Constantiaberg Bone Marrow Transplant
Unit, Tygerberg Academic Hospital, Cape Town, South Africa.
Prof. Abayomi held sway as Chief Pathologist and the Head of Division, Department of Pathology,
Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South Africa between
2009 and 2017. He was the Director of the Cape Haematology Bone Marrow Transplant Unit and adviser
to the Royal College of Pathologists for Africa, Lead Consultant to the West African Health Organisation
(WAHO), ECOWAS, President of the South African Society of Haematology and serves on council of the
International Society for Clinical Cytometry and the European, Middle East and Africa Biobanking
Society.
The distinguished Medical Researcher is the Chair of the H3Africa Consortium Data and Biospecimen
Access Committee, Principal Investigator of the Global Emerging Pathogens Consortium, which was
established at the height of the West African Ebola Outbreak to address biosecurity concerns in Africa. A
member of the African Academy of Science committee on Data governance, he is also the lead
consultant on the Biobank, Biosecurity and Biodata Ebola Rescue Projects in Sierra Leone and Lagos,
Nigeria.
Until his appointment as the Commissioner for Health in Lagos State, Prof. Abayomi was a Professor of
Medicine at the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR), Yaba.
