UCH Ibadan Nuclear Medicine Team Achieves International Accreditations

By: Mayowa Kolade, MB.BS, FCNP(SA), FEBNM, FRCP(Lond.) Consultant Nuclear Medicine Pysician, University College Hospital, Ibadan Oyo State, Nigeria

Mayowa Kolade, MB.BS, FCNP(SA), FEBNM, FRCP(Lond.) Consultant Nuclear Medicine Physician, University College Hospital, Ibadan Oyo State, Nigeria

I am Dr. Mayowa Kolade, a Consultant Nuclear Medicine Physician at the University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria.

It is my pleasure to share some remarkable and recent achievements in the field of nuclear medicine here in Nigeria.

Our Nuclear Medicine team at UCH Ibadan has received dual international accreditation as a Theranostics Centre of Excellence — from both the European Association of Nuclear Medicine’s standards and quality assurance body (EANM’s EARL) and also from the International Centres for Precision Oncology (ICPO).

It’s a major milestone — not because of the plaques or titles, or even because we’re the first centre to be so accredited in West, East, and Central Africa — but because of what it means for patient care across Nigeria and the sub-region.

The accreditation is a formal recognition that we’re delivering world-class precision cancer care for Advanced prostate cancer (Lutetium-177 PSMA), Neuroendocrine tumours (Lu-177 SSTR) and Thyroid cancer (I-131).

Just a few years ago, this kind of care — fusing advanced molecular imaging with targeted radioligand therapy — was almost unimaginable and simply didn’t exist in our setting.

Today, we are privileged to steward it from pioneering, to routine availability, and now global recognition— with patient outcomes and safety benchmarks that hold up anywhere in the world.

It’s hard to overstate how meaningful this is for:

• Patients who no longer need to make costly foreign trips to receive the care they deserve. Such care abroad costs about five to eight times the local costs.
• Families who are spared the financial and emotional strain of out-bound medical tourism.  
• Young clinicians who now see what’s possible when we refuse to settle for less, even within significantly constrained environments.

Many ask me, “Mayowa, why did you return to Nigeria? You could be earning tons more elsewhere.” 

My easy answer is: Nothing beats the impact of going from ‘zero’ to ‘one’ — and from ‘one’ to something established, recurring, and growing. The privilege of building something meaningful where it didn’t exist before… that’s a kind of wealth too.

We know the environment isn’t perfect. But one thing our patients can count on is this: They’re receiving care locally that meets international standards, delivered by a team that’s globally trained, locally grounded, and absolutely committed to getting it right.

Referrals are welcome — from across Nigeria and beyond. Please use the forms in these links: For Lutetium and Others.

The dual global accreditation isn’t the finish line. It’s fuel to keep building — steadily, quietly, with focus, grit and compassion.

I am grateful to the phenomenal Nuclear Medicine team at UCH Ibadan — residents, radiopharmacists, radiographers, nurses, and admin staff. Your dedication, skill, and heart are priceless.

We’ll keep “starting from where we are, using what we have, to do the best we can.”

 

Mayowa Kolade, MB.BS, FCNP(SA), FEBNM, FRCP(Lond.)

August 8, 2025

About the author:

Mayowa is a specialist physician in Nuclear Medicine, Molecular Imaging, and Theranostics. He received his medical training from the University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria, and residency training from the University of Cape Town’s Groote Schuur Hospital. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of London (FRCP) and also holds board certifications in Nuclear Medicine for both South Africa (FCNP(SA) and the European Union (FEBNM).

His expertise spans the range of Clinical Nuclear Medicine & Molecular Imaging, Paediatric Nuclear Medicine and Theranostics.

Mayowa is passionate about delivering patient-centered precision medicine as he focuses on improving healthcare access for underserved and resource-limited populations.
 

Learn more about my professional background from here.

Published: August 8, 2025

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