M.D.
Medical Director of Surgical Oncology, City of Hope Cancer Center Atlanta
Patients are people, not numbers, and they are to be treated like family. My goal is to help patients understand their diagnosis, treatment options, expected outcomes and prognosis while ensuring they have access to emotional, social and psychologic support.
University of Ibadan - Ibadan, Nigeria
Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland – Dublin, Ireland
General Surgery - Yale New Haven Hospital, New Haven, CT
Complex General Surgical Oncology - Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, NY
Master of Health Services Administration - University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
Associate Clinical Professor, Department of Surgery
General Surgery - American Board of Surgery
General Complex Surgical Oncology - American Board of Surgery
Tolutope Oyasiji, MD, brings nearly three decades of experience as a cancer physician and surgeon to his role as Medical Director of Surgical Oncology at City of Hope® Cancer Center Atlanta. Dr. Oyasiji also holds appointments as a Surgical Oncologist and an Associate Clinical Professor. In his clinical work, Dr. Oyasiji collaborates with patients and their multidisciplinary cancer care teams to treat a wide range of cancer types using both conventional surgical procedures and robotic-assisted and laparoscopic surgeries.
Born and raised in Nigeria, Dr. Oyasiji was inspired to pursue a career in medicine after witnessing the impact that surgical intervention had on a loved one.
“I was 12 years old when my grandfather became ill and needed surgery to be restored to health. It was an awesome experience to see the ‘magic’ of a doctor nurturing him back to vitality,” says Dr. Oyasiji, who eventually decided to specialize in oncology.
“Cancer is a defining experience for any human being,” he says. “Being able to journey with the patients at this crucial period of their life while providing tailored and specialized care with my surgical expertise and scientific knowledge is a highly rewarding endeavor.”
In the hospital, Dr. Oyasiji is a renowned surgeon with expertise in treating many different types of cancer, including those that affect the stomach, esophagus, gastrointestinal systems, as well as hepatopancreatobiliary cancers, neuroendocrine tumors and cancers that have spread to the peritoneum (the lining of the abdominal cavity), using the cytoreductive surgery and hypothermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) procedures. His expertise covers soft tissue malignancies, including melanoma, squamous cell, basal cell and Merkel cell carcinomas and sarcomas. His approach to surgical oncology centers on using advanced techniques, including many minimally invasive and robotic-assisted procedures. Dr. Oyasiji has completed multiple training programs in these fields and holds a diploma in advanced laparoscopic surgery from the University of Strasbourg in France.
After earning his medical degree at the University of Ibadan in Nigeria, Dr. Oyasiji pursued general surgery residency in Dublin with the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. After moving to the United States, he completed an internship and residency in general surgery at Yale New Haven Hospital in New Haven, Connecticut, and a fellowship in complex general surgical oncology at Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, New York.
Dr. Oyasiji is a member of many different professional associations, including the American College of Surgeons, the Society of Surgical Oncology, the American and International Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Associations and the Society for Black Academic Surgeons. A diplomate of the Royal Colleges of Surgeons in both England and Ireland, he has received many accolades, including two McLaren Health Care Research and Innovation Awards. He’s also served on multiple professional committees and published dozens of articles in peer-reviewed medical journals and is also a longtime teacher who has held academic appointments around the world.
Outside of City of Hope, Dr. Oyasiji enjoys spending time with his family, playing soccer and tennis and reading poetry.