Dr Tunde Oyebamiji
Dr Tunde Oyebamiji combines medicine, research, and digital innovation to improve trauma outcomes across continents. Alongside his cutting-edge academic work, he has launched two mission-driven ventures in Nigeria that save lives and strengthen emergency care systems for tens of thousands of patients.
Dr Tunde Oyebamiji
Dr Tunde Oyebamiji combines medicine, research, and digital innovation to improve trauma outcomes across continents. Alongside his cutting-edge academic work, he has launched two mission-driven ventures in Nigeria that save lives and strengthen emergency care systems for tens of thousands of patients.
A childhood shaped by possibility
The eldest of five children, Tunde Oyebamiji was born to Nigerian parents in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. From an early age, his parents instilled in him an unwavering belief in the power of possibility.
“They really cared about my education,” he says. “They only had basic schooling, but they were always saying ‘you can be anything, just go out there – the world is yours to conquer’.”
As a child, he imagined many futures for himself – astronaut, lawyer, doctor – anything felt possible. But that sense of limitless possibility was reshaped by a defining experience – when he was young, his sister became seriously ill. “Watching the care she got from my parents and doctors – that was a turning point for me. Seeing how they transformed pain into comfort made me realise that I wanted to be at the bedside of people in need and to offer hope.”
Tunde’s journey to medical school wasn’t smooth. While studying for the entrance exams, his father became ill. Soon after, the 2011 civil unrest in Côte d'Ivoire forced his family to flee the country. They relocated to Nigeria to escape the conflict. Rather than deterring him, these disruptions strengthened his resolve. What followed was a steep, purposeful journey into medicine, one that would ultimately generate impact far beyond the clinic.
Tunde was still a medical student in 2017 when he co-founded Lend An Arm – an initiative addressing blood shortages in Nigeria. In 2022, he moved to London to pursue a Master’s in Public Health at Imperial and he is now a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in trauma immunology at the University of Pittsburgh.
Alongside his academic work, Tunde remains actively involved in both of his ventures. He continues to lead Lend an Arm and later co-founded a second platform, Mediverse, to help hospitals digitise clinical and laboratory workflows and integrate telemedicine for underserved communities.
“It’s exciting to be recognised with the Emerging Alumni Leader Award from one of the world's top universities,” he says. This marks the second time Tunde has been recognised by Imperial. When he graduated in 2024, he also received the Student Award for Outstanding Achievement.
Tunde receiving the Student Award for Outstanding Achievement at his graduation from Imperial President Hugh Brady
Tunde receiving the Student Award for Outstanding Achievement at his graduation from Imperial President Hugh Brady
Whenever he meets a challenge, Tunde says, he remembers his parents’ encouragement. “Wherever I find myself, I'm always thinking about the fact that they told me I could be anything I wanted to be in life. Even though they didn’t have an education themselves, their unconditional love, constant encouragement, and unwavering support gave me the courage to dream, to strive for excellence, to act justly, and to live life to the fullest.”
An arm and a lifeline
Tunde studied medicine at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. While on clinical rotations, he was deeply affected by the number of preventable deaths he witnessed due to lack of available blood products, particularly at smaller hospitals.
As a doctor, seeing heartbreaking situations where women might not have access to blood after childbirth, or children end up dying because they couldn’t be transfused in time – it gave me the sense that something had to be done – we couldn’t just accept this.
Every day in Nigeria, an estimated 145 women of childbearing age and 150 victims of road traffic accidents lose their lives due to lack of timely access to blood and emergency care.
With some friends, Tunde began to raise awareness of blood donation, with the goal of reducing preventable deaths from trauma, postpartum haemorrhage, and severe anaemia. But they soon realised that awareness alone wasn’t enough. They wanted to make it easier for people to donate blood and ensure that it could get to where it was needed in time.
So, they set up Lend an Arm, a smart blood bank. It uses a digital platform that assesses supply and demand and coordinates rapid logistics to deliver blood and blood products to patients in under 30 minutes.
Tunde’s friend and colleague Dr Imodoye Abioro, who co-founded Lend an Arm and nominated him for the Emerging Alumni Leader Award, said that “Tunde’s leadership was vital in overcoming regulatory and infrastructure barriers, and building public trust in voluntary donation.”
Tunde with Dr Imodoye Abioro
Tunde with Dr Imodoye Abioro
“We had a lot of challenging moments,” Tunde says. But Lend an Arm has had an enormous impact. So far, the initiative has supported the delivery of over 5,000 units of blood and care for more than 11,000 patients. Rural health centres can now connect with blood banks in minutes. And critically, partner hospitals have incorporated Lend an Arm’s sub-30-minute delivery workflow into their emergency protocols, shortening time-to-transfusion and standardising emergency response.
In 2022, again with co-founder Dr Abioro, Tunde launched Mediverse, a modular digital health platform that digitises clinical and laboratory workflows, integrates telemedicine for underserved communities, and offers a micro-finance feature that helps rural clinics acquire essential equipment. Mediverse now serves around 2.5 million patients.
These initiatives have been recognised globally with The Diana Award and the USADF–US Chamber Digital Innovation Award, and have been featured on Voice of America and CNN’s Inside Africa Innovators series.
Research with global impact
With these major initiatives already underway, Tunde decided to consolidate his practical experience through formal public health training. He was awarded the prestigious Chevening Scholarship to study for a Master’s in Public Health at Imperial.
He chose Imperial for its global reputation, its position at the centre of connected learning in STEM, and the opportunity to gain direct experience with global organisations in developing, managing, and implementing public health interventions.
Imperial was a wonderful place to be. The structure of the course was outstanding. The programming and analytical skills I gained helped me refine both my research and my social ventures, so I could organise better and achieve greater impact. Looking back, it couldn’t have been any other school for me.
His master’s thesis examined the impact of lifestyle factors on cardiometabolic diseases in survivors of childhood acute leukaemias and was dedicated to his parents. After graduating, Tunde moved to the USA to work as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Pittsburgh. He remains deeply committed to improving outcomes for patients with traumatic injury.
Specifically, his research, presented at multiple international conferences, focuses on immune dysregulation and organ injury following trauma. Excessive inflammation can damage organs, leading to organ failure – a major cause of death after severe injury.
Tunde speaking about his work at a conference
Tunde speaking about his work at a conference
Tunde developed an ex vivo (outside of the body) system that enables researchers to study how blood plasma from severely injured patients affects healthy immune cells and supports drug discovery. He also co-leads an ongoing study to understand immune responses to trauma in older adults.
What led him to focus on trauma? “While cancer and chronic diseases dominate public attention,” he says, “mortality rates from both are declining globally, and trauma is emerging as one of the biggest, and most neglected, killers.” In the USA, it’s the fourth leading cause of death for all ages, and the first for people under, according to the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma. Injuries are responsible for approximately five million deaths a year worldwide, according to the WHO.
Tunde is determined to tackle these grim statistics. “I really want to change the game when it comes to traumatic injury,” he says.
Changing the game
No two days look the same for Tunde. He operates across multiple time zones, working in hospitals and laboratories, travelling for conferences during the day, and connecting with his co-founders in Nigeria overnight.
It’s exhausting. But I think about the woman who received that blood in time, or the clinic that can now run proper diagnostics – and it becomes hard to stop.
Yet he still finds time to help the next generation of medics, mentoring students and early-career scientists and supporting Chevening Scholarship alumni – advising them on graduate school applications and funding opportunities.
His awards have mounted up too – alongside the Diana Legacy Award, he has received the African Youth SDGs Innovation for Good Health Award, was named a World Summit Awards Young Innovator, and was personally recognised by the U.S. Secretary of State as Digital Innovator of the Year.
Tunde was personally recognised by the previous US Secretary of State Anthony Blinkin as USADF–US Chamber Digital Innovator of the Year.
Tunde was personally recognised by the previous US Secretary of State Anthony Blinkin as USADF–US Chamber Digital Innovator of the Year.
Looking forward, ultimately Tunde hopes to return to Nigeria. “In ten years, I see myself going back to the country that's given me so much,” he says. “I want to be an excellent clinician, to give back meaningfully, and to bring together a coalition that can really transform healthcare on the continent.”
For now, his focus remains clear. “I want to keep advancing my work,” he says, “to unite medicine with research and social entrepreneurship, to be a doctor guided by empathy and compassion, and to genuinely change people’s lives.”
But equally, he hopes his journey will inspire others.
I want to inspire young people to have the courage to dream, to strive for excellence, act justly, and live life to the fullest. That same belief was instilled in me by my parents and carrying it forward is part of my purpose.
I want to inspire young people to have the courage to dream, to strive for excellence, act justly, and live life to the fullest. That same belief was instilled in me by my parents and carrying it forward is part of my purpose.
Words by Sarah Webb | Photography by Jonathan Wright | Editing and design by Ellie Cawthera
Imperial's Alumni Awards recognise the outstanding achievements of our alumni community and the variety of ways they are making a real impact across the globe.
The Emerging Alumni Leader Award recognises and celebrates our rising stars, innovators, game-changers and future leaders.
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