Fulfilled Ighalo, MD
I am currently in my second year of pediatric endocrinology fellowship at Baylor College of Medicine/Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston, Texas. I obtained my medical degree at St. George’s University School of Medicine.
During my pediatric residency training at Tulane University my interest in endocrinology started after seeing my first patient with newly diagnosed Type 1 diabetes. Throughout the rest of my residency training, Dr. Cielo Alleyn and Dr. Richard Gomez nurtured my interest. Through them and the patients I saw in their clinic, I learned that pediatric endocrinology is a specialty that is intellectually stimulating, allows you to develop a long-lasting relationship with patients and their families, and explores the social interplay of medicine.
I have always desired to impact the state of health care in low- and middle-income countries like my own. Being born and partly raised in Nigeria, and spending most of my adolescence in South Africa, I had realized that there is great disparity in medical care not only between countries, but also within the same country and community. During my medical training, I learned that disparities also exists within a health center. During fellowship, I have had incredible guidance from my division chief Dr. Rona Sonabend, program director Dr. Nidhi Bansal, and clinical mentor Dr. Selorm Dei-Tutu, on how to merge my passion for endocrinology with my interest in global health and health disparities.
My fellowship research focuses on the pattern of growth hormone deficiency screening and treatment among at risk survivors of childhood cancer based on their race and socioeconomic status. I have the privilege at Texas Children’s Hospital to have interdisciplinary mentorship from Dr. Meghan Craven and Dr. Vincent Horne in endocrinology to Dr. Monica Gramatges in oncology. In fact, this work stems from Dr. Gramatges’ work on structural barriers to survivorship care in survivors of childhood cancer. I am excited to see the results and gain further experience with endocrine late effects of childhood cancer over the next year. With the support and guidance of my mentors, I have been able to form a career path that I am excited about.