Bolajoko Olusanya

Dr. Olusanya is a Nigerian/UK-trained developmental paediatrician with PhD in Child Health/Audio-Vestibular Medicine from the University College London. She is the Executive Director, Centre for Healthy Start Initiative (an Organisation in Special Consultative Status with the United Nations’ Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), Lagos, Nigeria, the Medical Director of First Years Medical Centre, and the Medical Consultant, Phonics Hearing Centre in Nigeria. She has (co-)authored over 250 peer-reviewed articles with over 120,000 citations, spanning paediatrics, otolaryngology, audiology, general/rehabilitative medicine, maternal and child health, and international health policy. Her scientific work is inspired by her personal experience of inclusive education with congenital hearing loss, and uniquely focused on community-oriented management of developmental disabilities including early detection and intervention programs, as well as prevention of avoidable causes. She is a reviewer for over 100 Medline-indexed scientific journals and serves on the editorial board of BMJ Pediatrics Open, International Journal of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology, International Journal of Audiology, PLOS One, Frontiers in Public Health, Frontiers in Pediatrics, and the Christian Journal for Global Health. She pioneered the largest hospital-based and community-based universal newborn hearing screening programs in Nigeria/Africa from 2003 to 2008; and was a leading contributor to the current WHO classification system for hearing loss. She is lead investigator for the first randomised controlled trial on the use of filtered sunlight phototherapy for treating neonates with severe-to-hazardous hyperbilirubinaemia. She is a Fellow/Member of several professional associations, including the Pediatric Association of Nigeria, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, the Royal Society of Medicine, the European Academy of Childhood-Onset Disability, the International Epidemiological Association and the American Psychological Association. She is a Senior Collaborator with the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Study and the coordinator/co-founder, the Global Research on Developmental Disabilities Collaborators (GRDDC). She is Co-Chair of The Lancet Commission on Hearing Loss and Commissioner, The Lancet Commission on Disability & Health. She is a passionate advocate for children with disabilities, accountability and decolonisation in global health. She received the 2018 Aram Glorig Award by the International Society of Audiology, in recognition of her contribution to global hearing healthcare. She is listed among the world's top 2% most-cited scientists (Elsevier Data Repository) and has been awarded a lifetime highly ranked scholar status in hearing loss and developing countries in the field of public health by ScholarGPS (Bolajoko O. Olusanya | Scholar Profiles and Rankings | ScholarGPS).  She is the leading researcher in paediatrics in Nigeria and among the top 5 in Africa with H-Index of 80 (https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?user=oCJ8m8wAAAAJ&hl=en).

 Selected Publications In Leading Role [n=30]

1.     Olusanya BO, Emokpae AA, Aina OA, et al. Heliotherapy for neonates with severe-to-hazardous hyperbilirubinemia: a randomized controlled, non-inferiority trial. Sci Rep. 2024 Oct 27;14(1):25646. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-77085-3.

2.     Olusanya BO, Wright SM, Smythe T, et al. Early childhood development strategy for the world's children with disabilities. Front Public Health. 2024 Jun 19;12:1390107. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1390107.

3.     Olusanya BO, Nair MKC, Wright SM, Hadders-Algra M; Global Research on Developmental Disabilities Collaborators (GRDDC). Global progress towards early childhood development for children with disabilities, 2013-2023. BMJ Paediatr Open. 2023 Jul;7(1):e002046. doi: 10.1136/bmjpo-2023-002046.

4.     Olusanya BO, Cheung VG, Hadders-Algra M, et al; Global Research on Developmental Disabilities Collaborators. Sustainable Development Goals summit 2023 and the global pledge on disability-focused early childhood development. Lancet Glob Health. 2023 Jun;11(6):e823-e825. doi: 10.1016/S2214-109X(23)00178-X.

5.     Olusanya BO, Gulati S, Berman BD, et al; Global Research on Developmental Disabilities Collaborators (GRDDC). Global leadership is needed to optimize early childhood development for children with disabilities. Nat Med. 2023 May;29(5):1056-1060. doi: 10.1038/s41591-023-02291-x.

6.     Olusanya BO, Storbeck C, Cheung VG, Hadders-Algra M; Global Research on Developmental Disabilities Collaborators (GRDDC). Disabilities in Early Childhood: A Global Health Perspective. Children (Basel). 2023 Jan 12;10(1):155. doi: 10.3390/children10010155.

7.     Olusanya BO, Gulati S, Newton CRJ. The Nurturing Care Framework and Children With Developmental Disabilities in LMICs. Pediatrics. 2023 Apr 1;151(4):e2022056645. doi: 10.1542/peds.2022-056645.

8.     Olusanya BO, Kancherla V, Shaheen A, Ogbo FA, Davis AC. Global and regional prevalence of disabilities among children and adolescents: Analysis of findings from global health databases. Front Public Health. 2022 Sep 23;10:977453. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.977453.

9.     Olusanya BO, Davis AC, Hadders-Algra M, Wright SM. Global investments to optimise the health and wellbeing of children with disabilities: a call to action. Lancet. 2023 Jan 21;401(10372):175-177. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(22)02368-6.

10. Olusanya BO, Boo NY, de Camargo OK, Hadders-Algra M, Wertlieb D, Davis AC; Global Research on Developmental Disabilities Collaborators (GRDDC). Child health, inclusive education and development. Bull World Health Organ. 2022 Jul 1;100(7):459-461. doi: 10.2471/BLT.22.288103.

11. Olusanya BO, Halpern R, Cheung VG, Nair MKC, Boo NY, Hadders-Algra M; Global Research on Developmental Disabilities Collaborators (GRDDC). Disability in children: a global problem needing a well-coordinated global action. BMJ Paediatr Open. 2022 Feb;6(1):e001397. doi: 10.1136/bmjpo-2021-001397.

12. Global Research on Developmental Disabilities Collaborators. Accelerating progress on early childhood development for children under 5 years with disabilities by 2030. Lancet Glob Health. 2022 Mar;10(3):e438-e444. doi: 10.1016/S2214-109X(21)00488-5.

13. Olusanya BO. Dismantling Structural Discrimination in Global Health. JAMA Pediatr. 2021 Oct 1;175(10):993-994. doi: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2021.1065.

14. Olusanya BO. Systemic racism in global health: a personal reflection. Lancet Glob Health. 2021 Aug;9(8):e1051-e1052. doi: 10.1016/S2214-109X(21)00147-9.

15. Olusanya BO, Mallewa M, Ogbo FA. Beyond pledges: academic journals in high-income countries can do more to decolonise global health. BMJ Glob Health. 2021 May;6(5):e006200. doi: 10.1136/bmjgh-2021-006200

16. Olusanya BO, Hadders-Algra M, Breinbauer C, Williams AN, Newton CRJ, Davis AC; Global Research on Developmental Disabilities Collaborators (GRDDC). The conundrum of a global tool for early childhood development to monitor SDG indicator 4.2.1. Lancet Glob Health. 2021 May;9(5):e586-e587. doi: 10.1016/S2214-109X(21)00030-9.

17. Olusanya BO, Wright SM, Nair MKC, et al; Global Research on Developmental Disabilities Collaborators (GRDDC). Global Burden of Childhood Epilepsy, Intellectual Disability, and Sensory Impairments. Pediatrics. 2020 Jul;146(1):e20192623. doi: 10.1542/peds.2019-2623.

18. Olusanya BO, Davis AC, Hoffman HJ. Hearing loss grades and the International classification of functioning, disability and health. Bull World Health Organ. 2019 Oct 1;97(10):725-728. doi: 10.2471/BLT.19.230367.

19. Global Research on Developmental Disabilities Collaborators. Developmental disabilities among children younger than 5 years in 195 countries and territories, 1990-2016: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016. Lancet Glob Health. 2018 Oct;6(10):e1100-e1121. doi: 10.1016/S2214-109X(18)30309-7.

20. Olusanya BO, Kaplan M, Hansen TWR. Neonatal hyperbilirubinaemia: a global perspective. Lancet Child Adolesc Health. 2018 Aug;2(8):610-620. doi: 10.1016/S2352-4642(18)30139-1.

21. Olusanya BO, Imosemi DO, Emokpae AA. Differences Between Transcutaneous and Serum Bilirubin Measurements in Black African Neonates. Pediatrics. 2016 Sep;138(3):e20160907. doi: 10.1542/peds.2016-0907.

22. Slusher TM, Olusanya BO, Vreman HJ, et al. A Randomized Trial of Phototherapy with Filtered Sunlight in African Neonates. N Engl J Med. 2015 Sep 17;373(12):1115-24. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1501074.

23. Olusanya BO, Neumann KJ, Saunders JE. The global burden of disabling hearing impairment: a call to action. Bull World Health Organ. 2014 May 1;92(5):367-73. doi: 10.2471/BLT.13.128728.

24. Olusanya BO. Neonatal hearing screening and intervention in resource-limited settings: an overview. Arch Dis Child. 2012 Jul;97(7):654-9. doi: 10.1136/archdischild-2012-301786.

25. Olusanya BO. Priorities for early childhood development in low-income countries. J Dev Behav Pediatr. 2011 Jul-Aug;32(6):476-81. doi: 10.1097/DBP.0b013e318221b8c5.

26. Olusanya BO, Ebuehi OM, Somefun AO. Universal infant hearing screening programme in a community with predominant non-hospital births: a three-year experience. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2009 Jun;63(6):481-7. doi: 10.1136/jech.2008.082784.

27. Olusanya BO, Newton VE. Global burden of childhood hearing impairment and disease control priorities for developing countries. Lancet. 2007 Apr 14;369(9569):1314-1317. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(07)60602-3.

28. Olusanya BO. Addressing the global neglect of childhood hearing impairment in developing countries. PLoS Med. 2007 Apr;4(4):e74. doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.0040074..

29. Olusanya BO. State of the world's children: life beyond survival. Arch Dis Child. 2005 Mar;90(3):317-8. doi: 10.1136/adc.2004.062240.

30. Olusanya BO, Luxon LM, Wirz SL. Benefits and challenges of newborn hearing screening for developing countries. Int J Pediatr Otorhinolaryngol. 2004 Mar;68(3):287-305. doi: 10.1016/j.ijporl.2003.10.015.