He is a medical scientist specializing in radiology, biomedical chemistry, and molecular biophysics. He holds several patents and is among the leading scientists of the 21st century. 

Samuel Achilefu (photo) is a Nigerian professor of radiology, biomedical engineering, biochemistry, and molecular biophysics. He is currently the Chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.

He graduated from the University of Nancy, France, with a Ph.D. in Chemistry and Materials Science, in 1991. He also completed postdoctoral training in oxygen transport in biological systems and hematological science at the University of Oxford, UK. With his team, Dr. Samuel Achilefu invented cancer visualization goggles.

Before those goggles, it was difficult for surgeons to completely remove the cancerous tumor during surgeries. Thanks to the high-tech, infrared goggles, doctors can now distinguish malignant cells from normal ones during surgeries. 

Surgeons told me that one of their problems is seeing beautiful static images of MRI and CT scans—but then when you go into the operating room you have truly nothing. It’s like walking in the dark,” Samuel Achilefu explained in late 2014. 

His goggles have been used in more than 27 operations on patients with skin, liver, and breast cancers. Samuel Achilefu and his team explained that the cells must first be injected with an infrared fluorescent marker, allowing malignant cells to glow and get detected. 

As an inventor, Samuel Achilefu already has over 65 U.S. patents. He is the author of more than 300 published scientific papers. His professional career began in 1993 at Mallinckrodt Medical where he was a senior researcher. In 2001, he joined Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis as a professor and director of the optical radiology laboratory.

The inventor has received dozens of awards for his work in healthcare. In 2014, he received the St. Louis Award and the Medical Innovation Award. The following year, he won the St. Louis Innovator Award.  The same year, he became the first recipient of the Distinguished Investigator Award from the Breast Cancer Research Program and received the Distinguished Investigator Award from the US Department of Defense.

In 2018, he received the Distinguished Investigator Award from the Academy for Radiology & Biomedical Imaging Research. The following year, he was also awarded the prestigious Britton Chance Biomedical Optics Award and, in 2021, he was elected to the National Academy of Medicine, one of the highest honors in health and medicine.

Melchior Koba