Dr. Olubukola O. Nafiu, MBBS, MS, FRCA, FAAP, ABA, ABOM is a Pediatric Anesthesiologist of Anesthesiology at Montefiore Einstein College of Medicine in New York, where he serves as Vice Chair for Research and Pediatric Anesthesiology. With a career spanning four continents and over three decades, Dr. Nafiu is internationally recognized for his groundbreaking research on perioperative outcomes in children—especially those impacted by obesity, race, and socioeconomic disparities.

After completing medical training with distinction in Nigeria, Dr. Nafiu trained and practiced in the United Kingdom, Ghana, and the United States. He holds board certifications in anesthesiology, pediatric anesthesiology, and obesity medicine, along with a master’s degree in clinical research design and biostatistics. He has authored more than 150 peer-reviewed articles and holds a prestigious NIH K23 career development award—the first awarded in anesthesiology at the University of Michigan—focused on improving postoperative pain management in children.

Dr. Nafiu’s work has transformed how clinicians identify children at risk for postoperative complications, introducing novel metrics such as neck circumference and habitual snoring as simple clinical tools. His research into racial disparities in pediatric surgical outcomes, including the widely cited “Race, Postoperative Complications, and Death in Apparently Healthy Children,” has been featured in The New York Times, CNN, and Scientific American.

In addition to his scholarly contributions, Dr. Nafiu is a senior editor for Pediatrics and Anesthesia & Analgesia and chairs multiple national grant review committees. A dedicated mentor and advocate for diversity in medicine, he actively supports young investigators and has volunteered with international surgical missions in Kenya and Mexico.

Whether in the operating room, the classroom, or the pages of high-impact journals, Dr. Nafiu brings scientific rigor, empathy, and equity to the forefront of pediatric anesthesiology.