Jen Badie
Taofeek K. Owonikoko, MD, PhD, executive director of the University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center, proudly displays on his desk an award he received in 2016 from the leadership development program of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
“They take a number of midcareer faculty from across the country, about 10 or 15 of us, and you go through a yearlong training in leadership as a way to prepare you for future responsibilities,” Owonikoko said. “That was one of the key, important career development steps for me as an administrative leader.”
Owonikoko has returned to Baltimore, the first city he lived in when he came to the United States from Nigeria in 2000, assuming his post at the National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated comprehensive cancer center in January.
“They say that the first city where people live when they come to the U.S. as a new immigrant is where they tend to stay for the longest,” said Owonikoko, who lived in Baltimore as a research fellow at Johns Hopkins University for two years. “The attraction for coming back is No. 1, the city. I loved the city when I lived here.”
He also was drawn by the cancer center’s relationship with the community.
“We have an institution that is embedded in the community. I’m always fascinated about the possibility of us as an institution to engage with the community and do something that would positively impact that community,” he said. “So when the opportunity came for me to come back as the cancer center director, that was one of the main attractions for me to say, ‘I want to go to a place where the cancer center is part and parcel of the community. The community trusts them.’ ”
Owonikoko, who also is the Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Distinguished Professor of Oncology and director of the Program in Oncology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM), is an internationally recognized physician-scientist who specializes in treating patients with lung cancer. He joined the cancer center after serving as chief of the Division of Hematology/Oncology and the Stanley M. Marks-Oncology Hematology Associates Endowed Chair in Hematology/Oncology Leadership at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
Owonikoko said photos are among some of the most meaningful items decorating his new office. On his desk are photos of his wife of 17 years and their two teenage daughters and teenage son, including a photo from a recent vacation to Jamaica and a photo of Owonikoko and his wife on their honeymoon to the Poconos. On a shelf, there is a photo of his leadership development group in 2019 when he was at Emory University, where he was professor and vice chair in the Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology at the School of Medicine and its Winship Cancer Institute.
He said he added items to the shelves because a co-worker told him his office was too barren.
Now artwork is displayed on the shelves, too. Owonikoko recently returned from a trip with UMSOM Dean Mark T. Gladwin, MD, to Nigeria, where they were working to build new research relationships, and brought back a plaque from the vice chancellor of the University of Abuja. He also treasures artwork that includes pieces from Latin America given to him by a patient from there.
“She used to come visit me from there when I was at Emory and brought carvings,” he said.
Working with the Community
In Owonikoko’s first 10 months, he and the cancer center have launched new programs benefiting the community, including a partnership with UMSOM, the University of Maryland Medical System, and AstraZeneca to provide Marylanders with increased access to low-dose lung cancer screenings. The center also is engaging with the community through its Baltimore City Cancer Program, an effort partially funded by the state in which the center helps people in underserved communities at risk of developing specific cancer types such as breast, cervical, and colon cancer to access needed care.
“That program has been ongoing for decades, and our goal now is to see how we can strengthen that in partnership with the state,” Owonikoko said.
He also has been getting to know the people who work at the cancer center.
“The majority of the people that make things happen, they are unsung heroes,” Owonikoko said. “We don’t see them on the cover of magazines or on TV or radio, but they are there morning, afternoon, night, weekends, weekdays. Seeing that level of commitment and engagement for me is really inspiring. It’s worthwhile to want to come to work every day, to interact and engage with such professionals.”
That group of people is growing, Owonikoko added.
“One area where I would say we’ve perhaps achieved some degree of success would be our ability to attract people, new recruits coming to strengthen our programs, both on the research as well as the clinical side,” he said.
He now is focused on the NCI comprehensive designation reassessment that takes place every five years.
“My No. 1 goal over the next year is to make sure that we go through that next round of review by the NCI with flying colors,” Owonikoko said. “It’s a lot of work. Every cancer center member has a role to play — our program leaders, our associate directors, but also institutional leaders. I’m very hopeful that we’ll get through that process without any major hitch.”
Read more about the cancer center’s lung cancer screening initiative in this issue.
