Dr. Kofo Ogunyankin Faculty Spotlight

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Diversity at Feinberg

Spotlight: Kofo Ogunyankin, MD

One of the newest faces to grace the halls of the Feinberg School is Kofo Ogunyankin, MD, a cardiologist with an expertise in echocardiography and a respected researcher of hypertension and diastolic function of the heart. He is credited with creating a new diagnostic measurement for assessing how efficiently the heart relaxes between each pumping action (diastolic function), which he believes may be one of the missing links in determining survival in heart disease patients. The assistant professor of Medicine and Nigerian-born Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of London joined the division of Cardiology at Feinberg last August.

As a specialist in echocardiography (ultrasound imaging of the heart), the bulk of his time is spent providing echocardiographic image interpretation to other doctors and cardiologists. “This is my main area of specialization in cardiology,” he explains. Dr. Ogunyankin also interacts on a daily basis with doctors training to become cardiology specialists. His undergrad mentees are learning how to perform measurements of heart function using echocardiography while the residents are being taught how to use cardiac ultrasound to collect and organize data for research purposes. Part of his time is spent assigned to an outpatient clinic where he sees new patient referrals or follows up on patients he took care of in the hospital. Finally, research time rounds off whatever time is left.

Dr. Ogunyankin says he is fascinated with the need to standardize the way diastolic function of the heart (the bottom number in a person’s blood pressure) is measured by ultrasound techniques. “The main message is that it may be helpful to evaluate diastolic function more routinely using a simple 3-stage algorithm.” His study was recently published in the journal Echocardiography,

As a researcher in hypertension, he believes one of the best strategies for successfully treating the silent killer is getting patients to take ownership of the treatment approach that works for them. He believes in customizing treatment to reflect patients’ needs and resources. “We’re getting patients to take ownership of their blood pressure and create exercise and weight reduction program that allows them to see how they get from one point of health to another.”

Apart from measuring blood pressure to show evidence of improvement, he is investigating measuring the improvement in diastolic function as another approach to assess the benefits of treating hypertension. When fully validated, such echo measurements can represent early warning signs in people who are unaware of the severity of their hypertension illness, he says.

He’s also looking at the job of the heart’s right ventricle. “We know more about the left ventricle because it’s the main pump, but I’m using echocardiography to find new ways of diagnosing abnormalities of the right ventricle, “he says. “Both ventricles need to be working efficiently for the heart to function properly.”

Dr. Ogunyankin served as assistant professor at Queen’s University and attending cardiologist at Kingston General Hospital in Kingston, Ontario Canada. Prior to that he was an assistant professor of clinical medicine at Columbia University in New York and director of echocardiography at Bassett Hospital in Cooperstown, New York. He earned his advanced imaging fellowship at Tuft’s University New England Medical Center in Boston. Dr. Ogunyankin received his bachelor degree in medicine and surgery at Lagos University Teaching Hospital in Nigeria and was secretary general of the Federation of African Medical Students Association between 1983-1985. He currently serves as international president of his 1985 graduating class.

Starting his new position at the end of last summer didn’t give him much time to explore Chicago, so he’s hoping that after enduring a long hard Chicago winter, he and his family will get a chance to enjoy their new home. When he has time, Dr. Ogunyankin likes to listen to contemporary jazz and read, so those items are also on his “To Do” list.

He says the best part of his new position is being part of a collegiate atmosphere. “I’m grateful for the opportunity to work with such a distinguished array of specialists, as well as having the privilege of helping to develop some trainees who are destined for greatness.”