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Meet Dr. Who Successfully Removed Tumour From A Baby In Her Mother’s Womb

Published

1 year ago

October 25, 2024

Dr. Olutoye Oluyinka is a distinguished Nigerian pediatric surgeon and medical researcher renowned for his pioneering work in fetal surgery.

He gained international acclaim in 2016 when he and his team successfully operated on a baby in utero, removing a life-threatening tumor and then returning the baby to the womb, where she continued to develop until birth.

Educated in Nigeria and the United States, Dr. Oluyinka has held prominent positions, including co-director of the Texas Children’s Fetal Center and later as the chief of surgery at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Ohio.

Early Life

Professor Oluyinka Olutoye, born in Lagos, Nigeria, on January 15, 1967, into a family with a long history in academics and the military from Idoani, Ose local government in Ondo state. His father, Major General (rtd) Olufemi Olutoye, was a well-known military commander and traditional leader and his mother, Professor Omotayo Olutoye, was an academic. Olutoye’s early ambitions to become a doctor were inspired by his upbringing in this environment, which gave him a burning desire for perfection.

He completed his primary education at Lagos University Staff School, before going on to King’s College Lagos for his secondary education. After that, he attended Obafemi Awolowo University in Ile-Ife, where he obtained his medical degree (MBChB) and graduated as the class valedictorian in 1988.

Following his medical studies in Nigeria, Olutoye relocated to the United States to begin his postgraduate training in paediatrics at Howard University General Hospital and received his Ph.D. in Anatomy from Virginia Commonwealth University in 1996. Afterward, he did his general surgery residency at the Medical College of Virginia Hospital before specializing in pediatric surgery during his fellowship at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania.

Career and Surgical Breakthroughs

The surgical achievement that made Professor Olutoye famous worldwide was the successful removal of a massive tumour called a sacrococcygeal teratoma from a 23-week-old fetus. He performed this complex treatment which involved briefly removing the fetus from the womb, removing the tumour, and then returning the fetus to the womb to continue developing at Texas Children’s Fetal Center. The baby, Lynlee Boemer, was delivered via C-section many weeks later in good health.

His experience includes various speciality procedures for fetal and newborn disorders such as congenital diaphragmatic hernia, lung abnormalities, chest wall deformities, omphalocele, gastroschisis, and difficult wound management. His research interests are on inflammatory responses in fetal wound healing, with the goal of discovering techniques to improve results in the treatment of congenital abnormalities.

In 2015, Professor Olutoye Oluyinka and a team of Nigerian doctors received international prominence for successfully separating conjoined twins Knatalye Hope and Adeline Faith Mata in a complicated surgery that was enthusiastically celebrated. His success in these pioneering surgeries has given him a reputation for innovative feats, which was reinforced in 2016 when he led another team to save a fetus from a life-threatening tumour, demonstrating the possibility of life-saving surgeries even before birth.

Awards, Achievements, and Recognitions

Professor Olutoye’s efforts have been recognised both in Nigeria and beyond. His alma university, Obafemi Awolowo University, honoured him with the coveted Great Ife Alumni Award for Excellence in the Sciences and admitted him into the Hall of Distinction. Other awards include the Molecular Surgeon Research Achievement Award from Baylor College of Medicine’s Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery, the Mark A. Wallace Catalyst Leader of the Year Award from Texas Children’s Hospital, and the Denton A. Cooley Surgical Innovator Award.

President Muhammadu Buhari gave him Nigeria’s National Order of Merit (NNOM) Award in 2022, acknowledging his significant contributions to medicine. Beyond his achievements, Olutoye’s work has acted as an inspiration, demonstrating that life-saving medical treatments can be performed before birth, a watershed moment in contemporary medicine.

Research by Professor Olutoye is still concentrated on new approaches to fetal and neonatal surgery. His work as the pediatric surgery chair at The Ohio State University College of Medicine aims to improve outcomes for complicated congenital conditions and provide important new understandings of how inflammatory responses affect fetal repair. His research on animal models provides hope for addressing severe congenital defects and reducing issues in newborn patients.
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Related Topics:#Dr. Godsknow Igali Dr. Olutoye Oluyinka

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Russia Insists Ukraine Must Cede Land Or Face Continued Military Push

Published

18 hours ago

November 27, 2025

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Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that he would end his Ukraine offensive if Kyiv withdrew from territory Moscow claims at its own — otherwise his army would take it by force.

The Russian army has been slowly but steadily grinding through eastern Ukraine in costly battles against outnumbered and outgunned Ukrainian forces.

Washington has meanwhile renewed its push to end the nearly four-year war, putting forward a surprise plan that it hopes to finalise through upcoming talks with Moscow and Kyiv.

“If Ukrainian forces leave the territories they hold, then we will stop combat operations,” Putin said during a visit to Kyrgyzstan. “If they don’t, then we will achieve it by military means.”

Russia controls around one-fifth of Ukraine’s territory. The issue of occupied land, which Kyiv has said it will never cede, is among the biggest stumbling blocks in the peace process.

Another important issue in the talks are Western security guarantees for Ukraine, which Kyiv says are needed to prevent Moscow from invading again in the future.

Washington’s original plan — drafted without input from Ukraine’s European allies — would have seen Kyiv withdraw from its eastern Donetsk region and the United States de facto recognise the Donetsk, Crimea and Lugansk regions as Russian.

The US pared back the original plan over the weekend following criticism from Kyiv and Europe, but has not yet released the new version.

Putin, who has seen the new plan, said it could be a negotiation starter.

“Overall, we agree that it could form the basis for future agreements,” he said of the latest draft, which the US is thought to have shortened to about 20 points.

US negotiator Steve Witkoff was expected in Moscow next week to discuss the revised document, Putin said.

US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll is meanwhile due to visit Kyiv later this week, Ukraine’s top presidential aide Andriy Yermak said.

– ‘Little can be done’ –

In his remarks Thursday, Putin repeated the claim that Russia had encircled the Ukrainian army in Pokrovsk and Myrnograd in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region — the most fiercely embattled area and a key target for Moscow’s forces.

“Krasnoarmeysk and Dimitrov are completely surrounded,” he said, using the Russian names for the cities.

Moscow was also advancing in Vovchansk and Siversk, as well as approaching the important logistic hub of Guliaipole, he added.

The Russian offensive “is practically impossible to hold back, so there is little that can be done about it”, Putin said.

Ukraine has denied Pokrovsk and Myrnograd are encircled, insisting its forces continue to hold the enemy along the front line.

Putin also questioned Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s legitimacy and said signing any agreement with him would be legally “almost impossible” at the moment, a suggestion that has drawn groans from Kyiv and its allies.

According to data analysed by AFP from the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW), Russian forces have conquered an average of 467 square kilometres (180 square miles) each month in 2025 — a step up from 2024.

Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, triggering the worst armed conflict in Europe since World War II.

The war has killed hundreds of thousands of people and forced millions to flee their homes.

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Morocco Jails French Rapper Maes For Kidnapping Bid

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2 days ago

November 26, 2025

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A Moroccan court has sentenced French rapper Maes to seven years in prison on charges including the formation of a criminal gang and attempted kidnapping, local reports said Wednesday.

Maes, who has roots in Morocco and whose real name is Walid Georgey, was arrested upon landing in Morocco in January after fleeing the United Arab Emirates, where he feared he could be extradited to France, the reports said.

French authorities had issued an international arrest warrant for him over a separate criminal case.

He appeared in court late Tuesday and was found guilty of “forming a criminal organisation, attempted abduction and unlawful confinement” of a rival in Morocco, news website TelQuel reported.

The rapper with over a billion views on his YouTube channel was accused of tasking a gang and hitmen with killing the rival, but the plot was foiled, TelQuel added.

Maes has denied all charges, with his lawyers calling the case “empty” and “arguing that no evidence linked him to the other defendants”, TelQuel added.

Ten other people were sentenced as part of the case, with terms ranging from one to 10 years, according to news website Media24.

AFP was unable to independently verify the reports as prosecutors were not immediately reachable for comment.

In 2020, when Maes was one of France’s most-streamed rappers, he fell victim to extortion attempts in his native Sevran, a suburb north of Paris, according to reports.

He retaliated by opening fire with weapons he had at home, leading to a shootout. He then fled to Dubai with his family, according to an interview with French YouTube channel LEGEND.

Following the killing of his manager in 2022, he was suspected of ordering reprisals against those he believed were behind the murder, according to reports.

AFP

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UK Court Clears Comedy Writer Of Harassing Transgender Woman

Published

2 days ago

November 26, 2025

Editor

A London court on Tuesday cleared Emmy award-winning comedy writer Graham Linehan of harassing a transgender activist online but found him guilty of criminal damage to their mobile phone.

Linehan, who co-created the popular 1990s sitcom “Father Ted” but has more recently become well-known for his gender critical views, had been accused of sending Sophia Brooks “abusive and vindictive” messages on social media.

He was also charged with criminal damage after deliberately knocking a phone out of Brooks’s hand as they filmed him on the sidelines of a London conference.

Ruling on the case, District Judge Briony Clarke said she was not convinced Linehan’s conduct “was oppressive and unacceptable beyond merely unattractive, annoying or irritating”.

Clarke also concluded Brooks was not “as alarmed and distressed as they portrayed themself to be”.

But convicting Linehan of criminal damage, the judge ruled he was “angry and fed up” and did not use “reasonable force” when the phone was taken from Brooks.

Clarke fined him £500 ($655) and ordered him to pay costs of £650 and a statutory surcharge of £200.

The Irish writer, who also co-created the popular sitcoms “Black Books” and “The IT Crowd”, became embroiled in a free speech row in Britain earlier this year over his anti-transgender stance.

It followed his arrest at London’s Heathrow Airport by armed police over accusations of inciting violence with his X posts insulting transgender people.

The arrest sparked a backlash and claims of state overreach, including from US tech billionaire Elon Musk. But in October, UK prosecutors said they would take “no further action” in that case.

AFP