Page 40 - RU RWJ Medicine Magazine • Winter 2021

Alumni
PROFILES
38 Robert WoodJohnson | MEDICINE
Making the Invisible Visible:
Foluso Fakorede, MD ’06, Lowers Amputation Rate in Rural Mississippi
By Lauren S. Peele-Marshall |
The Early Years
When Foluso Fakorede, MD ’06, told his mother at age 5 that
he wanted to become a cardio- thoracic surgeon, he did not know what
the path to this goal would be, but even at
5 he knew that he would be prepared for the journey.
Dr. Fakorede grew up Nigeria, the son of a traveling geologist and a registered nurse, who grew up in a village where water and electricity were scarce.
Every day after school, Dr. Fakorede and his older siblings would wait for their mom, Comfort Dele Fakorede, to finish her shift. They would watch as
she collaborated with colleagues to treat the sick and less fortunate. This is where the seed to become a physician was planted.
“I was only 5, but my recollection of the way a physician named Dr. Bito stood out is so vivid.” He was a cardiothoracic surgeon who garnered his team’s attention from his sharp appearance to his compassionate and empathic nature. I had no clue what that meant at the time, but I did know I wanted to be that guy,” Dr. Fakorede recalled.
To combat an unstable educational system in Nigeria and give her children the tools to achieve their goals, Comfort Dele enrolled the children in