PROFESSIONAL BIOGRAPHY
Dilly Anumba (MBBS, FWACS, MD, FRCOG, LLM Medical Law) is Academic Professor of Obstetrics & Gynaecology at the University of Sheffield Medical School, UK and Honorary Consultant in Obstetrics & Gynaecology, with subspecialist accreditation in Maternal and Fetal Medicine at the Sheffield Teaching Hospitals. He is Faculty Director for Clinical Academic Training at the University of Sheffield. He is Lead Clinician and Sheffield Training Programme Director for Fetomaternal Medicine. He is Director for the NIHR Global Health Research Group on Preterm Birth Prevention and Management (PRIME). He is a member of the RCOG Council and currently serves as International Representative for sub-Sahara Africa.
Professional Training. Professor Anumba graduated from the University of Benin in 1984 with numerous distinctions (Anatomy, Biochemistry, Pharmacology and Pathology) and prizes for best student awards in numerous other subjects (Pharmacology, Psychiatry, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Internal medicine, Surgery). Following his internship at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital when he won the Association of Resident Doctors Prize for Best House Surgeon and Physician, he underwent Residency Training at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital between 1987 and 1991, rising to Chief Resident, before moving to the United Kingdom for further training. He completed specialty training in Obstetrics and Gynaecology, and undertook subspecialty training in Maternal and Fetal Medicine, also undertaking Doctoral Clinical Research training at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne (The Florence and William Blair Fellowship, the Best Research proposal by a clinician award). He holds a master’s degreein Medical Law from the Northumbria University at Newcastle upon Tyne.
Clinical Practice.Dilly runs specialist clinics in High Risk Pregnancy, Fetal Ultrasound, Prenatal Diagnosis and Fetal Therapy, and Prematurity Prevention. With a Medical Law degree, he has published on patient safety issues and clinical negligence and serves as a Medicolegal Expert witness for claimants as well as defendants, as well as providing opinions to some of Her Majesty’s Coroners from time to time. Dilly founded the subspecialty higher training Programme in Maternal and Fetal Medicine at the University of Sheffield Teaching Hospitals in 2003 and has since trained5Consultant subspecialists in Maternal and Fetal medicine in addition to numerous general Consultant Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.
Research.His research interests focuson the physiology of human birth, reproductive immunologyand how to reduce health inequalities for socially excluded and disadvantaged women and families. He is Principal Investigator on several Project Grants funded by the UK’s Department of Health, the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), the Medical Research Council and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, EPSRC, investigating novel approaches to predict and manage preterm birth. He is Director of the NIHR-funded Global Health Research Group on Preterm Birth Prevention and Care, in collaboration with researchers in South Africa and Bangladesh, with extended collaborations to India and Nigeria (Universities and Teaching Hospitals in Benin, Kano and Ilishan-Remo – Babcock).
He has graduated numerous postgraduate students – 12MD/PhD students, >12MSc and 10 BSc research students, and currently supervises six PhD students, 8 postdocs, two research Masters students as well as undergraduate medical students undertaking research training.
Postgraduate Professional Education.Professor Anumba is the Director for Clinical Academic Training for the Faculty of Medicine Dentistry and Health, the University of Sheffield as well as for Health Education England Yorkshire and Humber (South). Dilly was Vice-Chair of the Subspecialty Training Committee and the Academic Board of the RCOG, having also served as the Postgraduate Training Lead, and member of the Curriculum and Education boards. In these roles he has contributed to shaping postgraduate clinical academic training and subspecialty training in Obstetrics and Gynaecology. He also serves on the national Integrated Clinical Academic Training Committee (INTERACT) and on the NIHR Advisory Group for Clinical Academic Training. Dilly was recently appointed Chair of the Selection Committee for the UK’s NIHR Short Placement Award for Research Collaboration (SPARC) scheme for Early Career Researchers and is on the Steering committee of the NIHR Academy. He is also a member of the Career Development Committee of the Society of Reproductive Investigation USA. He has served for two terms on the Medical Technologies Advisory Committee (MTAC) of the National Institute for Health and Clinical care and Excellence (NICE) formulating advice and recommendations for the NHS regarding new technologies for clinical adoption for patient benefit, amongst other roles in numerous professional bodies and societies in the UK and abroad.
As President of the Medical Association of Nigerians Across Great Britain (MANSAG) 2009 to 2012, Dilly introduced the Annual MANSAG Educational symposium, the MANSAG clinical trainee fellowship travel awards and bursaries, the admission of allied health professionals into the membership of MANSAG and led on strong engagement with the Nigerian Government and Health Agencies. For instance, he served on the Nigerian Ministerial Committee that reviewed the Undergraduate Medical School Curriculum for Nigerian Universities and led on several training and skills transfer missions to various hospitals and training institutions in Nigeria, some of which were funded on external grants which he co-developed with several other MANSAG members.