USA Health neonatologist Kelechi Ikeri selected for national award

USA Health Children’s & Women’s Hospital neonatologist Kelechi Ikeri, MBBS, FAAP, has been named one of five national recipients of the prestigious American Academy of Pediatrics/Vermont Oxford Network (AAP/VON) Scholars Award.

The award recognizes future leaders in newborn care who exemplify dedication to data-driven quality improvement in the care of infants and families. It is presented to five fellows and early-career neonatologists in partnership with the American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Neonatal Perinatal Medicine.

“We are immensely proud that Dr. Ikeri’s contributions to the care of sick and premature infants in our community have received national recognition,” said Maran Ramani, M.D., head of the neonatology division at Children’s & Women’s Hospital. “This award places him among a distinguished group of emerging physicians. We eagerly anticipate his future achievements in enhancing outcomes for our smallest patients.”

Scholars selected for this award receive a stipend to attend the Annual Quality Congress (AQC) meeting and present research during a webinar in 2025. Ikeri’s biography will also be posted on the Vermont Oxford Network website along with the other winners.

An assistant professor of pediatrics at the Frederick P. Whiddon College of Medicine at the University of South Alabama, Ikeri was drawn to work at USA Health because of the patient population’s wide range of complexity and cases.

Ikeri also serves as the neonatal physician lead for the Alabama Perinatal Quality Collaborative, a state perinatal program initiated by the Alabama Department of Public Health and funded by the state and federal government and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Born in Nigeria, he earned a bachelor of medicine and surgery degree from the University of Lagos College of Medicine in Idi-Araba, in Lagos, Nigeria. An interest in critical care medicine, he said, attracted him to neonatology.

He worked in hospitals in Nigeria and the island of Tobago before moving to the United States in 2015. Ikeri completed a pediatrics residency at Woodhull Medical and Mental Health Centre in Brooklyn, New York, in 2018 and completed a neonatal-perinatal medicine fellowship at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children in Philadelphia in June 2021.

Ikeri is certified in general pediatrics and neonatology by the American Board of Pediatrics and is a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Medical Association, and American College of Medical Quality.