Utibe Effiong

Resident Physician at St Mary Mercy Hospital and Research Scientist for the Exposure Research Laboratory, University of Michigan

Dr. Utibe Effiong is a US physician. Before his clinical appointment at St. Mary Mercy Hospital, he was the Writer-in-Residence at the University of Michigan Risk Science Center. In that role, he ran Risk Without Borders, a unique blog which examined emerging risk issues through the lens of a developing economy.

Dr. Effiong is a qualified physician and public health scientist. He holds the MBBCh degree from the University of Calabar, membership of the Nigerian National Postgraduate Medical College of Physicians and the MPH degree from the University of Michigan. For his master’s degree he concentrated on Environmental Health and Infectious Disease Epidemiology. He is also a New Voices Fellow with the Aspen Institute.

Dr. Effiong is no stranger to public health risk communication having spent 3 years at the University of Michigan where he has produced nearly 50 publications. He also has more than 13 years of experience in the Nigerian health system.

Prior to starting Risk Without Borders, Dr. Effiong spent 2 years as a research scientist with the University of Michigan School of Public Health. Before that he had worked for six years as an Internist with several Nigerian hospitals including the University of Uyo Teaching hospital and General Hospital Umunnato where he carried out clinical duties, medical research, student/physician training and health education for diabetic patients.

Drawing on 16 years’ experience in healthcare, research and risk communication, Dr. Effiong now focuses on creating an understanding of emerging global health risk issues from the perspective of a developing economy. He does this through his writing, interviews and public speeches. His articles have been featured by the World Economic Forum, Huffington Post and the Detroit Free Press. He has given several television, radio and magazine interviews and has spoken at various international fora. Most recently he spoke at Exponential Medicine in San Diego and gave a TED talk in Berlin.