Empowering Others In Medicine & Life: A Spotlight on DCMS Member Dr. Oluwaseun O. Akinduro

Story by Lana Sumner-Borema, DCMS Intern

Dr. Oluwaseun Akinduro, sixth year Mayo Clinic resident who just finished an enfolded neurosurgical oncology fellowship doesn’t remember when he first started dreaming about a future career in neurosurgery. But his mom does. During a recent conversation with her, he learned he first mentioned neurosurgery in fourth grade!

“Apparently, I came home crying to my mom one day after school because my teacher laughed at me for telling her I wanted to become a brain surgeon. The funny thing is that I obviously had no clue what that was, and I didn’t even know I said that until a few years ago.”

When asked what may have triggered his interest in neurosurgery, he can only point back to his lifetime fascination with “putting things back together.” Akinduro explains, “I always liked fixing things. Growing up my mom would come home with a bed or dresser set and that was exhilarating for me.” While most individuals with this type of passion might move toward a career in engineering, he chose to put this talent to work in medicine.

Dr. Akinduro’s father was the first physician in his family and he emphasizes his father was always a “role-model” to him. Their family moved from Nigeria to England when he was two years old and lived there until he was six. He mentions, regrettably, never having picked up an accent. By the time he was nine, Akinduro had moved again to New Jersey and then to Alabama where he remained until he graduated from the University of Alabama at Birmingham with a bachelor’s degree in biology and a minor in chemistry.

Regardless of where his family was living, Akinduro says his father’s patients would always come talk to them whenever they saw the outside his practice. This helped Akinduro begin to understand the significance of the patient-physician relationships his dad formed through his career.

“We’d go to the grocery store and we’d always run into his patients and they’d be so grateful. That was always a positive influence on me. That’s where my interest in medicine and the body came from.”

His belief is there are two possible outcomes that can arise when a physician raises a child. Possible outcome number one is the child can grow up without the presence of their parent due to their long hours of work and the child can learn to “hate the profession.” Possible outcome number two is the child may recognize the impact their parent has had on their community and want to serve in the same way with their future career as they choose to follow in their footsteps. For Akinduro, it was the latter as he graduated from The University of Alabama and went on to study at Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia.

Akinduro’s fourth grade teacher’s laughter now inspires him to mentor aspiring doctors, especially those who are interested in medicine but lack guidance. While he was fortunate to be guided by his father, he recognizes many future physicians need someone they can use as a role model as they step into the daunting journey of medicine. To assist them, he created a mentorship program at Morehouse called “Step Ladder Mentoring.” Akinduro explains how he incorporated his fellow classmates and aspiring undergrads.

“I tried to create a self-sufficient program where medical students were volunteering for it and the undergrad students who were interested in medicine would get connected to a mentor.”

As a resident Akinduro continues to mentor others from undergraduates all the way up to fellow residents. Akinduro explains he would “definitely consider mentoring a hobby” as he spends a great deal of his time checking in with students and ensuring they are hitting the right deadlines at the correct times in order to reach their future goals.

He also utilizes his own personal mentor at Mayo, Dr. Alfredo Quinones-Hinojosa, to guide him not only with neurosurgery but with his scientific research in the lab as well.

“I applied for a grant through a neurosurgery foundation called the NREF. I was awarded this grant to do my research on chordoma treatment therapy under the mentorship of Dr. Quinones.”

Akinduro’s research deals with a tumor, chordoma, that is extremely difficult to treat. However, the drug verteporfin, which is already FDA approved for macular degeneration also works very well for chordomas. His work this year will be using microparticles which encapsulate the drug and release it in a controlled fashion directly into the tumor linearly over time. He hopes to start clinical trials soon and later use it in his patients as it would make chordoma tumors much more sensitive to other types of therapy.

When the sixth-year resident and fellow at Mayo Clinic is not working as a doctor or scientist, he’s enjoying his role as a new father. Dr. Akinduro’s son, Ademola Isaiah Akinduro, was born June 21, 2021. According to Akinduro, the name means “God is the salvation of this king.” Akinduro and his wife of four years were not originally intending to stay in Jacksonville past residency, though perhaps their new life as a family and the connections they have made will keep them here.

His love for water sports has also been made Jacksonville an attractive place as they enjoy outdoor trips where they can kayak and he can practice his new hobby of fishing. According to Akinduro, he is anxiously waiting until he can get his new son “out on the water and do some crazy things.” Of course, he immediately clarified he has to wait for his wife’s approval as she might not be as keen as him.

Akinduro also plays a big role at his church where he is on the “first response team.” He compares this volunteer group of doctors to being “on call at church.” The church he attends, Impact Church, has three service times and he volunteers most Sundays as medical response in case a congregation member has an emergency. While it’s usually only small medical issues, Akinduro is proud to use his medical skills in a way that serves his community as he watched his dad do throughout his childhood.

Dr. Akinduro, who somehow knew his future profession in early grade school, is now having the last laugh at his teacher’s response. He is successfully finishing his residency in neurosurgery and doing innovative research. However, he just might be even more proud of his time spent mentoring future docs. Through this he helps multitudes of future patients he will never even meet.