Dr. Dapo Papoola is the Founder and President of Operation Healthy Africa, a non-profit organ­ization based in Rolling Hills Es­tates, California, www.operationhealthyafrica.org. The mission of Operation Healthy Africa is to bridge the healthcare gap between the United Statesand Africa, to educate African communities about diseases and disease prevention and to organ­ize training programs for African local doctors and personnel who volunteer their services and time. To date, Operation Healthy Africa has funded, developed and exe­cuted several medical missions to several parts of Africa.

Dr. Popoola is one of the founding members of the Association of Nigerian Physicians in the Ameri­cas (ANPA), and a past chairman of the Southern California Chapter of ANPA.

Dr. Popoola received his Doctor of Medicine degree from the Univer­sity of Illinois Medical School in Chicago in 1978 and his training In General Surgery at Martin Luther King, Jr. General Hospital between 1978 and 1983. He be­came affiliated with several South­ern California Hospitals where he practiced General and Bariatric Surgery. He served as Chief of the Department of Surgery at Hawthorne Hospital in Hawthorne, California from 1988 to 1989 and as Director of Bariatric Surgery at several Southern Cali­fornia Hospitals in the past two decades.

Dr. Popoola specializes in Bariatric Surgery, a treatment for morbid obesity, a disease that plagues millions of people drastically af­fecting their self-image and quality of life. With over 20 million Americans reported to be obese, and more than 8 million considered mor­bidly obese, Dr. Popoola is committed to bring the gravity of this prob­lem, a arely discussed subject in mass media until recently, to the forefront of Society's consciousness. As the founder and Chairman of Surgilite Medical group, Inc. and Manager, Surgilite Bariatric Management, LLC, Dr. Popoola has surgically treated thousands of morbidly obese pa­tients in southern California and around the Country. His work greatly in­spires the human spirit and brings dig­nity and hope to many, irrespec­tive of race, culture or gender.

 Dr. Popoola's civic achievements include:

• 2001 Humanitarian Award from the Torrance Chanber of Com­merce
• 2001 Chieftaincy Award "Ataiyese" (one who beautifies the world) from lbeju-Lekki Local Gov­ernment in Lagos, Nigeria.
• 2003 Humanitarian Award "Mas­ter of Africa" Award from Recy­cling Black Dollard Communications.
• 2004 Citizen of the week Award from KNX-1070 Radio Station in Los Angeles, California.