Professor Fatima Kyari, Registrar and Chief Executive Officer of the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria, has been named the 2026 Aig-Imoukhuede Visiting Fellow at the University of Oxford.
The Aig-Imoukhuede Foundation announced the appointment on Monday. The fellowship will place Kyari at the Blavatnik School of Government, where she will examine major questions around Nigeria’s medical education and health workforce.
The six-month fellowship begins in September 2026. During the programme, Kyari will work with academics and policy experts while developing ideas that could support health-sector reforms in Nigeria.
Her selection comes at a critical time for the country’s health system. Nigeria faces continuing challenges around medical workforce capacity, professional regulation, medical education and the movement of health professionals abroad.
Fatima Kyari to examine medical education reform
Kyari’s fellowship research will focus on expanding medical education as a strategic public-sector reform.
The aim goes beyond simply producing more doctors.
Her research will examine how Nigeria can increase medical training while protecting educational standards. It will also consider how the country can strengthen its health workforce and respond to changes in the healthcare labour market.
The Blavatnik School of Government says Kyari’s work will explore how the expansion of medical schools can strengthen health workforce capacity while maintaining quality. It will also examine Nigeria’s position within the wider global political economy of health.
The research is expected to produce practical recommendations.
Those recommendations could cover governance, regulation and the implementation of large-scale reforms in medical education and healthcare.
This focus connects directly with Kyari’s responsibilities at the MDCN. The council regulates medical and dental practice in Nigeria and sets standards for professional knowledge and skills.
Why the Oxford fellowship matters
The fellowship gives Kyari an opportunity to step away from the daily demands of professional regulation.
It will allow her to examine Nigeria’s medical education system from a wider policy perspective.
In her own words, the programme will help her “take a broader look” at the medical education and health workforce systems Nigeria needs for the future.
That perspective could prove important as Nigeria considers how to train enough health professionals while maintaining quality.
The MDCN already oversees several areas connected to medical education. These include accreditation, student indexing, continuing professional development and assessment examinations.
The council also maintains standards for medical and dental education in Nigeria.
Its regulatory role therefore places Kyari close to many of the issues her Oxford research will address.
Fatima Kyari’s career goes beyond regulation
Kyari’s professional background extends well beyond her current position at the MDCN.
The Blavatnik School of Government describes her as a clinician, academic and public-sector leader. Her career has covered healthcare delivery, medical research, health policy, implementation and institutional reform.
Before joining the MDCN, she served as the pioneer Director of the Institute for Advanced Medical Research and Training at the University of Abuja.
She has also worked internationally in eye-health research and policy.
Kyari led the development of the Glaucoma Clinical and Research Network at the International Centre for Eye Health, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. The initiative brought together clinicians, researchers and policymakers across Africa.
Her work there focused on strengthening glaucoma care through research, surgical training, capacity building and evidence-based guidelines.
She also helped adapt the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness glaucoma toolkit into Nigeria’s national glaucoma management guideline.
That experience reflects a recurring theme in her career.
Kyari has worked at the point where medical evidence meets policy and implementation.
Her role at the MDCN
As MDCN Registrar and CEO, Kyari operates within an institution responsible for regulating medicine and dentistry in Nigeria.
The council determines professional standards and maintains registers of qualified practitioners. It also oversees elements of medical and dental education and professional practice.
The MDCN has also moved several education-related services online.
Its current systems cover applications for medical and dental school accreditation, housemanship centre accreditation, student indexing, continuing professional development providers and assessment examinations.
The council has also introduced a centralised housemanship placement system.
The system allows newly provisionally registered doctors and dental surgeons to select available training centres with vacancies.
These responsibilities give Kyari direct experience of some of the structural challenges facing Nigeria’s medical workforce.
Her Oxford research could therefore draw on both policy analysis and her experience within Nigeria’s health regulatory system.
Kyari joins distinguished Oxford fellows
The Aig-Imoukhuede Visiting Fellowship has previously attracted senior public-sector figures.
The foundation said Kyari would join a group that includes former Independent National Electoral Commission chairman Professor Attahiru Jega.
Former Chief Justice of Ghana Justice Georgina Wood and former Federal Inland Revenue Service chairman Ifueko Omoigui-Okauru have also held the fellowship.
Dr Funke Adepoju is another former fellow named by the foundation.
According to Ofovwe Aig-Imoukhuede, Executive Vice Chair of the Aig-Imoukhuede Foundation, Kyari represents the type of public-sector leadership the organisation wants to encourage.
“Professor Fatima Kyari represents the kind of public sector leadership we want to see more of in Nigeria,” she said.
Aig-Imoukhuede said such leaders should be willing to identify difficult problems and build institutions that deliver better outcomes.
She added that Kyari’s position at the MDCN puts her at the centre of important questions about the future of Nigeria’s healthcare workforce.
Kyari: Fellowship will broaden her perspective
Kyari said she was honoured by her selection for the fellowship.
She said the programme would allow her to examine Nigeria’s medical education and health workforce systems from a broader perspective.
The experience, she added, would help her develop practical ideas for improving health workforce governance, medical education and public-sector reform.
That objective fits the wider purpose of the Aig-Imoukhuede Foundation.
The foundation says it focuses on strengthening public-sector institutions by developing leaders who can turn evidence and ideas into effective policy and better public services.
For Kyari, the Oxford fellowship therefore represents more than an academic opportunity.
It offers a platform to study how Nigeria can expand medical training without sacrificing quality.
Professor Fatima Kyari begins her Oxford fellowship at a significant moment for Nigeria’s healthcare sector.
Her research will examine how the country can expand medical education, strengthen its health workforce and improve the institutions responsible for delivering reform.
Her experience gives the project a practical dimension.
Kyari has worked across clinical care, medical research, health policy, education and professional regulation. She now leads the MDCN, the body responsible for regulating medical and dental practice in Nigeria.
At Oxford, she will have the opportunity to connect that experience with international policy research.
The central challenge will be clear: how can Nigeria train more health professionals, maintain high standards and build a workforce capable of serving the country’s future needs?
Her six-month fellowship is expected to explore that question and develop practical policy recommendations for Nigeria.
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