CTSI recently appointed Kola Okuyemi, MD, MPH, as Director of the K to R01 Transition to Independence Program, a two-year career development program that aims to place junior investigators with K awards further on the path to be competitive for R01 awards.
He will also assist in recruiting scholars from diverse backgrounds and promoting diversity-related activities for CTSI as a whole.
Dr. Okuyemi is a Professor of Family Medicine and Community Health who directs a wide range of programs focused on health equity research as well as research training, career development, and mentorship. He serves as Director of the following programs:
- Health Equity Leadership & Mentoring (HELM) Program, which supports the career development and leadership training of 12 post-doctoral fellows and junior faculty who are from underrepresented minority groups and/or whose work focuses on health equity.
- Program in Health Disparities Research (PHDR), which addresses health inequities among minority and other underserved populations by fostering multidisciplinary research in collaboration with community members and academic partners.
- Professional Development Core of the National Research Mentoring Network (NRMN), an NIH-funded program that leverages professional development programs to address the unmet need for more diversity in the biomedical research workforce.
Dr. Okuyemi is also an accomplished researcher, with numerous grants and publications. His research interests relate to smoking cessation, cancer prevention, minority health, health disparities, and community engagement.
Welcome, Dr. Okuyemi!