Onyemaechi Okolo-Taku, MD

Dr. Onyemaechi Okolo-Taku joined Ironwood Cancer & Research Centers in 2021. She has been blessed with a multicultural and multinational upbringing, which has greatly influenced her everyday interactions, her cultural competency, and her work. She was born in Nigeria and lived there with her family until the age of 8, after which she moved to Texas. Subsequently she spent 3 years in an international boarding school in England. Dr. Okolo- Taku completed her undergraduate degree at The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, and after college moved to Spain for a little over 1 year. She spent the first two years of medical school at St. George’s University School of Medicine in Grenada and finished off in New York City. While in medical school she did international electives in Nicaragua and the Czech Republic. After NYC, she moved to Tucson, Arizona, where she completed her internal medicine residency, hematology and oncology fellowship, and integrative medicine fellowship. She is a member of ASCO, ASH, SIO, and IOWG.

Dr. Okolo-Taku has always been interested in oncology and hematology due to the fast-moving developments in the field and being able to bring these treatments to her patients. Additionally, she has an interest in evidence based integrative oncology and completed a fellowship in integrative oncology at the Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine. At Ironwood, she works closely with the Integrative Oncology team that includes Dr. Heidi Rula. She has many publications in hematology, oncology, and integrative oncology ranging from case reports to literature reviews, as well as retrospective research.

Another big interest of hers is community engagement, understanding and breaking down health disparities, as well as medical education. She believes that community engagement leads to stronger bonds between patients and their physicians. Additionally, she will be working closely with Dignity Medicine’s new Family Medicine Program as a Site Director for the hematology and oncology elective rotation, where she will have the opportunity to help train new Family Medicine physicians.

Her non-work interests include spending time with her husband, her two sons and dog, she also enjoys traveling, cooking and dining at new restaurants, hiking, gardening, and art.