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Fadelu is being honored by HMS for his global work through Dana-Farber’s collaboration with the Butaro Cancer Center for Excellence (BCCOE). – Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Photo collage of Temidayo Fadelu and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Oct 7, 2023, 01:14

Fadelu is being honored by HMS for his global work through Dana-Farber’s collaboration with the Butaro Cancer Center for Excellence (BCCOE). – Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, made the following post on LinkedIn:

“Harvard Medical School’s (HMS) Young Mentor Award acknowledges that mentorship does not have to wait until a career is winding down. Temidayo Fadelu, MD, MPH, of Dana-Farber’s Center for Global Cancer Medicine, is a testament to that.

Fadelu is being honored by HMS for his global work through Dana-Farber’s collaboration with the Butaro Cancer Center for Excellence (BCCOE), where he consults with providers, leads tumor boards in which physicians discuss patient cases, and hosts oncology education seminars. Fadelu says the nomination was a surprise, but rewarding. “It feels good to know you’ve made a positive impact on someone’s life,” he remarks.

The young mentor, originally from Nigeria, says he was called to a career in oncology by an interest in improving care delivery systems for patients with cancer. “As demographic transitions are happening around the world, the burden of cancer in nations we would consider to be developing is rising,” says Fadelu. “Unfortunately, there’s a lag in the infrastructure to deliver oncology care, which is very complex.”

The BCCOE is a longtime partner in which providers from the Institute’s Center for Global Cancer Medicine work with BCCOE staff and Partners In Health to reduce the global cancer burden by providing care to adults and children with treatable cancers at minimal or no cost. As part of the program, Fadelu also brings HMS students to Rwanda, fostering and educating the next generation of global oncologists.

Part of the Center for Global Cancer Medicine’s strategy is to build oncology treatment capacity in Rwanda through teaching, professional development, and research. When Dana-Farber started the work with the BCCOE in 2012, there was just one trained oncologist in Rwanda. At that time, the center’s goal was to empower non-specialist providers to treat patients with cancer through clinical protocols and training. Now, there is a robust team of local clinicians providing complex cancer care, serving more than 1,800 patients annually. The center also serves as an oncology education hub for medical students, pharmacists, nurses, and other allied health care trainees from across Rwanda.

“There are many people who make this work possible and I’m proud of what we have achieved,” Fadelu says. “But there is still work to be done.”

Source: Dana-Farber Cancer Institute/LinkedIn

Since its founding in 1947, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Massachusetts provides adults and children with cancer with the best treatment available today while developing tomorrow’s cures through cutting-edge research. Dana-Farber researchers have contributed to the development of 35 of 75 cancer drugs recently approved by the FDA for use in cancer patients. Providing advanced training in cancer treatment and research for an international faculty, the Institute conducts community-based programs in cancer prevention, detection, and control throughout New England.