A Nigerian, Dr. Uchechi Iweala, has been congratulated as one of the first spinal surgeons in Maryland to perform a successful navigated lumbar spinal fusion using a robot.
Dr. Uchechi, who is the son of the Director-General of the World Trade Organisation, Ngozi Okonji-Iweala, broke a medical record in Maryland, United States.
This was revealed on Thursday by Okonji-Iweala who announced the news with pictures from the operation on her Twitter handle, noting that she is proud to be his mum.
She wrote, “Congratulations Dr. Uchechi Iweala, on being one of the first spinal surgeons in Maryland to perform a successful navigated lumbar spinal fusion using a robot! So proud to be your Mum! Keep it going!”
Uchechi is a board-eligible, fellowship-trained orthopaedic surgeon who specialises in spine surgery.
He grew up in Maryland and attended St. Albans in Washington, D. C. He earned his Bachelor’s degree with honors at Harvard College, and received his MD/MBA from Harvard Medical School and Harvard Business School.
He returned to the DC area to complete his residency training in orthopaedic surgery at George Washington University. Following residency, he completed a fellowship in spine surgery at New York University.
Uchechi, who has worked on health projects in Ghana and South Africa, and recently co-founded a surgery centre in Nigeria with his father, a trained neurosurgeon, is a member of the Lumbar Spine Research Society, the North American Spine Society, and the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.
