Pulling Back the Curtain: Olatoyosi Odenike, MD
voice mattered – from the high school students
who worked in her lab to her colleagues and
peers. I learned much about generosity and hu-
mility, and about the importance of having a life
outside of work. Having downtime to re-energize
your work is essential.
Have you taken her advice about finding
that work-life balance?
I have tried, and I don’t think I would be able
to do any of the things I do without the support
of my incredible husband, Muyideen. He’s a
computer engineer and my loudest cheerleader.
He’s always excited about my accomplishments,
whatever they may be.
We are blessed to have a 13-year-old son,
Fuad, who is inquisitive and constantly challenges
us in various ways with questions about the world
today and how the world could be.
When you have time away from work,
what do you and your family enjoy
doing?
I love to cook anything and everything. One of
my favorite cuisines is Nigerian food, but with a
twist. I like to put my own spin on other people’s
recipes. My “signature dish” is shrimp fried rice,
a Nigerian-Asian fusion recipe that has flavors
of sesame oil, ginger, and rodo (also known as
habanero peppers, which are a staple of Nigerian
cuisine). I also make a mean jollof rice, a classic
Nigerian dish. I wish I had more time to cook. I
enjoy my time in the kitchen because it’s a great
stress relief. And, I’m grateful that my husband
and son will eat anything I make. It brings me
pure joy.
My son, though, likes to critique my dishes.
He’ll actually rate it! He’ll always eat it, but he’ll
give me feedback, “Mom, I give you an 8.5 out of
10 for that.” I cannot wait until he starts turning
out his own recipes and my husband and I can sit
back and relax!
We also love to goof around. At the end of
a long workday, it’s nice to go home, let my hair
down (literally and figuratively) and be silly with
them. They’re both techy computer nerds, so
they have me outnumbered there, but my son
and I share a passion for reading.
What do you enjoy reading? Do you
read the same things as your son?
He’s more into graphic novels and Manga; his
dream is to visit Japan someday. I will read just
about anything – I love reading science fiction,
delving into novels that celebrate ideas of social
justice, flipping through mindless entertainment
magazines, [and] reading the newspaper. …
I recently read Half of a Yellow Sun by
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, which is set during
the Biafran War in the late 1960s. I love her
books and how she interprets historic scenarios
through the eyes of her fictional characters. I
also enjoyed The Girl With all the Gifts by M.R.
Carey, a dystopian horror novel (which I usually
shy away from), but with a science-fiction twist,
which is what drew me to it. Growing up, I was
the kid who would lock herself in a room and
not be able to put a book down.
I just wish I had more time to read for
pleasure. My idea of heaven is hanging out and
reading books with my family.
If you could have dinner with anyone
from history who would it be?
I was trying to think of someone from medical
history who I greatly admire, and, fortunately,
I have had the pleasure of having dinners and
conversations with her many times: Dr. Rowley.
So, if I could choose someone who I never
had the honor of meeting, I would say Nelson
Mandela. I’ve always been intrigued by his
life and perseverance. It is so impressive that
a human being could endure all he endured
and still emerge fully committed to his or
her ideals. Even after his imprisonment, he
continued to push boundaries to bring his
ideas to fruition. If I could, I would ask him,
“How did you keep it together? Why didn’t you
ever give up?”
Obviously, he worked on a grand scale, but I
think we can learn much from historical figures
like Mr. Mandela to take back to our own small
corners of the world. We have to do the things
that give us joy and hold on to our dreams. ●
Keep up with accelerating advances in
IMMUNOTHERAPIES
ASH Summit on Emerging Immunotherapies for Hematologic Diseases
July 12 – 13, 2018 • Omni Shoreham Hotel, Washington, DC
This first-of-its-kind ASH summit brings together stakeholders from all
disciplines – researchers, clinicians, regulators, industry scientists, and
patient advocates — to examine pre-clinical and clinical factors influencing the
effective development, regulation, and implementation of immunotherapies
for both malignant and non-malignant hematologic diseases.
Learn more at www.hematology.org/meetings