Midway through his appointment at Our Future Health, Dr Emeka Okorocha starts to look nervous. It’s because the next step is for him to provide a small sample of blood. “I’m a hospital doctor so I’m fine with needles,” he says. “I will happily take other people’s bloods. Working in A&E, I take blood 5, 10, 20 times every shift. But,” he admits, “I do have a thing about having my own blood taken.”

I leave the room to give him some privacy. Two minutes later and he calls me back in.  “That was painless,” he says, smiling. “I told myself that when you do something that’s difficult, you make yourself mentally stronger. I had to do it because it’s for such an important cause, as those bloods are used for health research. And if I’m telling people to sign up for Our Future Health, I definitely need to do what I’m asking them to do!

“When I heard about Our Future Health, I thought, ‘this is something I want to get involved in’. It’s the UK’s largest health research study, with up to 5 million people. And research is the future of medicine, giving us the information we need to make healthcare better.

“For example, take cancer. Even since I started medical school in 2011, research has improved how we treat cancer. It’s improved detection, treatments, medications and interventions for cancer. I can only imagine how in the future, research coming out of Our Future Health will transform all this even more.

Making medicine better 

If you’re on TikTok, you may already be a fan of Dr Emeka (he’s @doctor.emeka). During the pandemic he worked in a COVID ward and grew a following of over 200,000 for his health information videos. His video in support of Black Lives Matter, “If you celebrate me in my scrubs don’t hate me in my hoodie”, went viral globally. “As a doctor, I’ve got a platform and I want to use it for good,” he says. 

Before that, back in 2017, newly qualified Emeka was one of the stars of the 2017 BBC series Junior Doctors: Blood, Sweat and Tears. Now he’s regularly seen on TV programmes such as ITV1’s Good Morning Britain, Jeremy Vine on Channel 5, Katie Piper’s Breakfast Show, and Loose Women, talking about a range of health issues and how to stay fit and healthy. 

His day job, though, is in the NHS. He’s spent the last five years working in A&E in hospitals in London and Kent and his next career step is GP training in East Kent, where he grew up. He’s currently in paediatrics, based in a Special Care Baby Unit. “I’m doing neonatal baby checks on babies who’ve been born by caesarean. I’m holding tiny, very delicate babies,” he says, mimicking holding a tiny baby next to his 6ft 6in frame. “It’s been a lot to learn!”

“Like a lot of doctors, I went into medicine because I wanted to help people. I moved from Nigeria when I was a little boy. The healthcare system in Nigeria isn’t like the NHS and in my early life, family members passed away who maybe wouldn’t have if they’d  lived in the UK. That pushed me towards studying medicine and wanting to work in the NHS. The NHS is great because it’s there for all – whether you’re rich or poor, old or young. Everyone deserves a good healthcare system.”

Medicine runs in Dr Emeka’s family. “My grandfather was in medicine, my dad is an obstetrics and gynaecology consultant in Kent, my sister is a trainee surgeon in London, and my younger brother is at medical school. We try not to talk about medicine too much around the dinner table,” he laughs. 

Know your health stats

In 2022, Emeka published a book, called Your Health in Your Hands. “As an NHS healthcare professional, one of our main objectives is to improve and prolong life. I wrote that book because I want everyone to live longer lives but also healthier ones too. It’s a health manual that’s full of facts, tips and tricks you can take on board today to benefit your health now and into the future.”

One piece of his advice is that you should know your health stats. “That’s a good reason to sign up for Our Future Health,” he says, “because you’ll get have your height, weight and blood pressure measured during the appointment.

“I check my mum and dad’s blood pressure regularly. That’s how I found out my dad has high blood pressure. As a black male in his 60s, it’s known he’s at higher risk of certain conditions, such as prostate cancer.

“A big reason why I’m supporting Our Future Health, is so we can find out why particular ethnic communities are affected more by certain conditions, including why the African Caribbean community are more likely to have high blood pressure but also type 2 diabetes. And for that, we need health research.”

Until now, most research has not included people from different ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds. Our Future Health aims to change this by signing up 5 million people from all different backgrounds who reflect the UK population. “For the future tests and treatments that we use in the NHS to work for everyone, we need people of different backgrounds and ages to come forward and to volunteer for health research like Our Future Health,” says Emeka. 

“Having worked in a place as diverse as East London, I can see how important this research is. For example, statistics show that in the UK, women of African Caribbean background have a much higher risk of dying during pregnancy and childbirth than the average. This needs to change. When my sister was pregnant, I wanted her to have the best antenatal care possible. In fact, I want everyone’s sisters – yours too – to have the best care possible.”

By now Emeka has finished his appointment, and he’s holding the envelope that contains his results. “I signed up for Our Future Health because I know it’s going to have a positive impact on the future of everyone’s healthcare.

“By signing up, you’re doing something for you, but also helping our NHS get better. The research of today is the medicine of ten years’ time.”

About Volunteer Voices

Volunteer Voices tell the stories of people who take part in our research programme. Often, they have experienced the devastating effects of a disease. 

Joining Our Future Health does not help our volunteers in their battle with disease. They take part because they want to help improve healthcare for others in the future.