Personal Statement

At the College of Medicine, University of Lagos, I have been actively involved in teaching, clinical service and research, which has centered mainly on newborn health/global health, and national policy development viz: prematurity/low birth weight, neonatal jaundice, neonatal nutrition, perinatal asphyxia, simulation based medical education and global health neonatology. Of date, I have published 146 peer- reviewed journal articles in the afore mentioned areas, contributed chapters to books, and have personally supervised the research and dissertations of 26 post-graduate (Fellowship) thesis.

I am currently the Country Lead/Clinical PI Nigeria for the Newborn Essential Solutions and Technologies (NEST360) multi-country global health quality newborn care implementation program, in collaboration with teams from the USA, UK, Malawi, Kenya, Tanzania, and Ethiopia in collaboration with Rice 360 Global Health Technologies and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. I am also the National PI, Nigeria for the development of “Mobile Virtual Simulation Training in Essential Newborn Care for Healthcare Workers in Low and Middle Income Countries” in collaboration with the University of Washington, Oxford University LIFE Project, the American Academy of Pediatrics, Bill and Melinda Gates, and Laerdal Global Health. Furthermore, l am one of the national newborn advocacy leads driving policy, trainings, newborn care education and quality care in Nigeria; and have made my mark as being the lead editorial consultant that developed key national neonatal policy documents in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH), professional colleagues and development partners to drive progress. These collaborative efforts integrating research span the maternal/newborn/child health continuum and address many of the key drivers of neonatal morbidity and mortality.

Positions and employment

• 2024 till date: Professor and Head, Department of Paediatrics, University of Lagos.          
• 2013-date     Postgraduate Examiner and Accreditation Team Member, West African College of Physicians, Faculty of Paediatrics.
• 2015-2018       National President, Nigerian Society of Neonatal Medicine
• 2018-2023  Chairperson, National Technical Newborn Subcommittee of the FMOH
• 2022 till date: CoChair, Quality Technical Delivery, RMNCEAH Coordinating Core Group, FMOH.
• 2022 till date: Member, Global Advisory Committee of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)
• 2022 till date: Advisory Board Member African Neonatal Network
• 2023 till date: Member, WHO Expert Advisory Committee, Follow -up Small and Sick Newborns, Geneva
• 2024: Award of Hillman-Olness Global Partner “lifetime service award” at the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Sept 2024.

Selected Most Recent Publications

Rachel Umoren, Chinyere Ezeaka, Sara Berkelhamer, Daniel Hippe, Ime Asangansi, Matthew Cook, Iretiola Fajolu, Olubokola, Olawuyi, Christianah Adeboboye, Oluwadamilola Ekhalufoh, Stella Fashola, John Feltner, Joseph Fisher, Jasmine James, Olukemi Imoukhuede, Nahee Park, Victoria Quach, Amanda Stiffler, Cyril Engmann (2025). Essential Newborn Care Virtual Simulations for Skills Retention in Newborn Care. JAMA Network Open. 2025 Feb 3;8(2):e2460565.

Chinyere Ezeaka, Iretiola Fajolu, Beatrice Ezenwa, Emeka Chukwu, Shruti Patel, Rachel Umoren. Perspectives of medical students, on simulation-based training: the Nigerian experience. PAMJ. 08 Sep 2022. 43(16).

Imam, Z. O., Nabwera, H. M., Tongo, O. O., Andang’o, P. E. A., Abdulkadir, I., Ezeaka, C. V., Ezenwa, B. N., Fajolu, I. B., Mwangome, M. K., Umoru, D. D., Akindolire, A. E., Otieno, W., Olwala, M., Nalwa, G. M., Talbert, A. W., Abubakar, I., Embleton, N. D., Allen, S. J., & Neonatal Nutrition Network (NeoNuNet) (2024). Time to full enteral feeds in hospitalised preterm and very low birth weight infants in Nigeria and Kenya. PLOS One, 19(3), e0277847. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0277847.

Lawn J. E., Bhutta, Z. A., Ezeaka, C., & Saugstad, O. (2023). Ending preventable neonatal deaths: multicountry evidence to inform accelerated progress to the sustainable development goal by 2030. Neonatology, 120(4), 491-499.

Umoren R, Ezeaka VC. Concepts on simulation-based teaching: Experience for clinical education in Nigeria. In: A practical approach to contemporary education in Nigeria. Tolu Odugbemi and Taiwo Ipaye (Editors) University Press 19^th Dec. 2023; 129-154.