Dr. Leesi Saturday Komi wins the 2023 TechQuest Telehealth Systems Innovation Award

By Nkechi Solomon

At the recently concluded TechQuest International Conference 2023, the spotlight turned to one of Africa’s most dedicated health innovators. Dr. Leesi Saturday Komi, a Nigerian physician and public health professional known for his work in expanding digital access to healthcare, was named a recipient of the TechQuest Telehealth Systems Innovation Award.

The annual TechQuest Awards recognise individuals and institutions whose work demonstrates measurable progress in technology-driven innovation across sectors, including health, energy, finance, and education. This year’s event brought together a diverse community of researchers, policy leaders, and innovators who are reimagining how Africa delivers essential services in a rapidly changing world.

In the health segment, the Telehealth Systems Innovation category stood out for its emphasis on practical, scalable solutions that address real barriers to care. Among nine distinguished nominees, Dr. Komi emerged as one of the top five winners, honoured for his leadership in advancing inclusive and sustainable telemedicine systems across Nigeria. His work, deeply rooted in compassion and evidence-based design, reflects a vision that health technology must not only be functional but also human-centred.
Dr. Leesi Saturday Komi has built his career around one guiding idea: that healthcare innovation must always return to the patient. Trained as a medical doctor at Lugansk State Medical University in Ukraine, his early professional years shaped a philosophy grounded in precision, empathy, and access.

At the International Multi-Profile Clinic in Kyiv, he practiced frontline medicine and led a multidisciplinary healthcare team that served a diverse patient population. During the global COVID-19 pandemic, he played a vital role in shaping the clinic’s emergency response strategy. He helped design triage systems and telehealth protocols that maintained continuity of care for patients during lockdowns, while ensuring that physicians could still conduct virtual consultations safely and effectively.

Returning to Nigeria in 2022, Dr. Komi brought with him a renewed vision for public health, one that combined clinical knowledge with digital tools to make care available beyond the hospital walls. That same year, he became Telehealth Director at Medihause Health Services Ltd., Abuja. There, he led a pioneering telemedicine program that redefined the delivery of primary healthcare to underserved and rural populations.

Under his leadership, the Medihause telehealth network connected over 40,000 patients to certified medical practitioners. For thousands of families in remote areas, this meant shorter travel times, reduced costs, and timely access to qualified healthcare professionals. Recognising Nigeria’s linguistic diversity, Dr. Komi introduced multilingual virtual consultations in Hausa, Yoruba, and Pidgin English, ensuring that language no longer stood as a barrier to care.

Equally significant was his commitment to education and health literacy. Dr. Komi organised more than 50 webinars and community health campaigns focused on maternal care, infectious disease prevention, chronic disease management, and mental health awareness. These initiatives helped demystify telemedicine for ordinary citizens and fostered greater trust between technology and community care.

Beyond his practice, Dr. Komi’s impact extends into public health research and academic publishing. Between 2021 and 2023, he co-authored and reviewed several scholarly papers on digital health systems, epidemiological surveillance, and health equity in Africa. His body of work argues for context-driven health innovation solutions designed not for abstract global metrics, but for the realities of local communities.

He has also served as an editor and reviewer for multiple international journals, including the International Journal of Applied Research in Social Sciences and the International Medical Science Research Journal. His editorial excellence earned him multiple “Editor of the Year” and “Reviewer of the Year” distinctions, marking him as a respected voice in shaping global health research standards.

This combination of practice, evidence, and mentorship was one of the main reasons the TechQuest jury highlighted his work. According to the judging panel, Dr. Komi exemplifies the kind of leadership that merges scientific discipline with empathy a blend that ensures technology serves people rather than replacing them.
The Medihause Health Services Telehealth Initiative, led by Dr. Komi, became the benchmark project that secured his 2023 TechQuest Award. The program was built on clear goals: connecting patients to reliable healthcare professionals, integrating local languages into digital systems, and maintaining consistent follow-up through trained community health workers.

The selection committee identified the program’s strengths in four main areas:
Scalability and Inclusion – A system that reached more than 40,000 patients while remaining affordable and simple to use.

Community Integration – Over 300 community health workers trained in teleconsultation, data entry, and referral protocols.

Cultural Sensitivity – Multilingual support that allowed patients to engage in consultations in their preferred language.

Measured Impact – Verified outcomes showing improved continuity of care and reduced waiting times for follow-up appointments.

The committee also praised the program’s ethical safeguards, particularly its privacy standards for remote consultations and transparent consent processes. These details underscored Dr. Komi’s belief that innovation must never compromise human dignity.

Winners in the Telehealth Systems Innovation Award Category, 2023
Dr. Leesi Saturday Komi
Dr. Aminat Bello
Engr. Chinedu Okafor
Dr. Thandi Ndlovu
Dr. Edediong Ekarika
Ms. Mariam Adeyemi

The awardees were selected from nine distinguished nominees after a two-stage evaluation process that included documentary review and expert panel assessment. Each of the five winners demonstrated measurable community impact, responsible innovation, and scalable models adaptable to diverse healthcare environments.

This year’s TechQuest International Conference, held in Lagos, brought together more than 500 innovators and health technology professionals from across Africa and beyond. The event featured keynote sessions on telemedicine, AI in diagnostics, and the ethics of digital health data. Participants explored the intersection between policy, technology, and community outcomes, a theme that echoed throughout the award sessions.

Speaking at the closing ceremony, a member of the TechQuest Secretariat commended the winners for “transforming ideas into practical systems that directly serv…