Ije Akunyili: Quick facts to know about 1st Nigerian CMO at Jersey City Medical Centre, US

Dr Ije Akunyili, a Nigerian American-based medical practitioner recently made history after being named the new Chief Medical Officer (CMO) at the Jersey City Medical Centre in the United States of America.

Dr Akunyili is now the first African American medical professional to serve in that role.

Here are quick facts to know about the Nigerian doctor:

Ijeoma Akunyili is the first daugh­ter of the late Dora Akunyili, former director-general of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Con­trol (NAFDAC) and ex-minister of information.

She graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Pennsylvania and attended the University of Maryland School of Medicine. 

She completed her emergency medicine residency at the McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston. 

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In addition, Dr. Akunyili earned an MPA in international development from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and an MBA from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.

Dr Akunyili has vast leadership and advocacy experience and is currently serving as the President of the Connecticut College of Emergency Physicians (CCEP). 

Before her recent appointment, she served for several years on the board of directors of Texas and Connecticut Colleges of Emergency Physicians. 

She was an Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine Houston, TX, and she is currently a Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine at Yale University.

Akunyili and her husband are the parents of two teenage children.