Biosketch
O. Hans Iwenofu, MD is a Professor in the Anatomic Pathology Branch and a faculty member of the Division of Bone and Soft Tissue. Dr. Iwenofu earned his MBBS at the College of Medicine, University of Nigeria in Enugu, Nigeria. He started his residency at the University College Hospital Ibadan, Nigeria, before coming to the United States where he completed his residency training in Anatomic and Clinical Pathology at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center in Oklahoma City. Dr. Iwenofu then went on to complete a fellowship in Oncologic Surgical Pathology at Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, New York followed by a fellowship in Soft Tissue/Bone Pathology at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.
Dr. Iwenofu’s research interest is focused on understanding the underpinnings of sarcomagenesis, biomarker discovery and personalized medicine as it applies to soft issue and bone tumors. In a collaborative seminal study titled: “miR-29 acts as a decoy in sarcomas to protect the tumor suppressor A20 mRNA from degradation by HuR” they discovered a unique regulatory circuitry of the decoy function of miR-29 on HuR in the regulation of A20 tumor suppressor activity. This finding uncovers a completely new role of the microRNA-29 besides its tumor suppressor function and provides insightful clues as to why NF-kB is constitutively elevated in different sarcoma subtypes thus maintaining cells in a perpetual primitive state.
Dr. Iwenofu is the recipient of several awards including: Anatomic Pathology Faculty Teaching award, Stowell-Orbison Certificate of Merit and Honorable Mention at the 95th annual meeting of the United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology (USCAP), Crane award and residents first prize award (at the University of Pennsylvania), Pickren award for the distinguished and best overall clinical fellow (from the Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, NY) , Donald West King Fellowship award at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (AFIP) and Nancy K. Hall award for the outstanding first year resident in pathology at the University of Oklahoma, Health Sciences Center, OK. He has published many papers focused on clinical and translational aspects of soft tissue and bone bones and serves on the editorial boards of Human Pathology, Journal of Surgical Oncology and BMC Cancer.
He believes the rich culture of multispecialty collaboration and collegiality that exists in The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center makes it a unique place to practise medicine and offers tremendous opportunities for cutting-edge research and delivering the best quality care to our patients.
Board Certifications
Anatomic & Clinical Pathology Certification, American Board of Pathology
Academic and Medical Appointments
Professor-Clinical, Department of Pathology, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, Ohio
Education and Training
2006-2007 Fellow, Soft Tissue/Bone Pathology, University of Pennsylvania Health System, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
2005-2006 Fellow, Oncologic Surgical Pathology, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, New York
2001-2005 Resident, Anatomic & Clinical Pathology, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK
1999-2001 Resident, Anatomic Pathology, University College Hospital Ibadan, Nigeria
