Toluwalasé Ajayi Named Chair-elect of the American Medical Association Board of Trustees

Toluwalasé  Ajayi, M.D., clinical professor in the Departments of Pediatrics, Family Medicine and Medicine has been named chair-elect of the American Medical Association (AMA) Board of Trustees.

AMA is one of the most influential medical associations in the country. Their work includes supporting medical professionals across a broad range of specialties, guiding ethical standards in the U.S. health care system and helping to shape health care policy.

Ajayi, who also serves as the program director of the Palliative Medicine Fellowship program at the School of Medicine and is the interim medical director of palliative care at Rady Children’s Hospital – San Diego, is a community pediatrician, adult and pediatric palliative medicine physician and clinical translational researcher.

When she was just a child, Ajayi, her mom and sisters immigrated to the United States. She remembers a particularly difficult health screening that left her “feeling less than human.”

“My mom tells me that is when I told her I wanted to be a doctor,” Ajayi said. “I wanted to be a doctor for children, so that no child would feel the way I did.”

A deep passion for improving the health care experience for patients, but also her colleagues has driven Ajayi to become involved in organized medicine on local, state and national levels. Before becoming chair-elect, she chaired both the AMA Young Physicians Section and California Medical Association Young Physicians Section. Additionally, she has served as an American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) delegate to the AMA House of Delegates.

“For me, organized medicine is an extension of the care I provide at the bedside. Through my work with the AMA and AAP, I am able to advocate for policies that improve access, equity and support for physicians and patients alike. These spaces allow us to elevate the lived experiences of our communities into systemic change,” she said.

As a researcher, Ajayi is looking at where and how cutting-edge digital medicine technologies can help to fill gaps in maternal fetal health, and pain and palliative medicine.

“My research focuses on addressing disparities in access to care through digital health technologies, including wearable devices and artificial intelligence. Whether in maternal-fetal medicine or palliative care, I’m working to ensure that innovation meets the needs of all patients, especially those historically left behind by our health systems,” said Ajayi.