IPH Alumnus advancing Health Equity immediately postdoctoral fellow at Office of Minority Health and Health Equity
Reprinted in part from Florida A&M University Awards More Than 700 Academic Degrees during the Fall 2024 Commencement Ceremonies
Tallahassee, FL - Doctoral graduate Olumide Arigbede first arrived at FAMU as a member of the fifth cohort of the prestigious FUTA-FAMU Exchange Program, a partnership with the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA). This opportunity allowed him to complete a year of international education, ultimately influencing his decision to pursue advanced degrees at FAMU. He proudly crossed the stage to receive his Doctor of Public Health in Epidemiology and Biostatistics.
“My path to Florida A&M University began in Nigeria, where FAMU’s reputation as the premier public HBCU in the United States was well known. My interest in epidemiology stems from a longstanding curiosity about disease patterns and public health crises,” said Arigbede. He was born in Ibadan, the largest city in West Africa, though his family origins are traced to Ilupeju-Ekiti in Ekiti State, Nigeria. His undergraduate education began at The Polytechnic, Ibadan, where he earned a degree in Computer Science, followed by another degree in Statistics from FUTA.
His mentor and major professor, Sarah G. Buxbaum, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Biostatistics, proudly shared a bit more detail re: this FAMU CoPPS, IPH standout, please and thank you!
Olumide Arigbede, MPH, DrPH successfully defended his dissertation this Fall Semester 2024, and received his DrPH at the 2024 FAMU Fall Commencement. His dissertation is titled: "Mathematical modeling of emerging and reemerging infectious diseases outbreaks and the predicted rate of emergency department (ED) visits: case studies of COVID-19 and influenza, the National Syndromic Surveillance Program (NSSP) datasets -- United States, 2019 - 2024." Its focus is on mathematical modeling of infectious disease outbreaks, specifically analyzing COVID-19 and influenza data from the National Syndromic Surveillance Program. As a learner at FAMU, he published six papers, with three first authorships, and presented research at numerous national and international conferences.
Dr. Buxbaum also made these notations re: Dr. Arigbede notable achievements:
1. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Health Scientist (November 2024 - Present)
- Postdoctoral Fellow at the Office of Minority Health and Health Equity
- Using genetic, genomic, and pharmacogenomic approaches to advance health equity
- Contributing to research that facilitates the delivery of drugs, biologics, and devices from bench to bedside
2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)/ORISE Fellowship (June 2022 - November 2024)
- A Five-year fellowship award supported his dissertation research in public health and epidemiology, during which he
- served as Health Scientist and Epidemiologist Fellow with the National Syndromic Surveillance Program,
- developed syndromic definitions and conducted epidemiological research, and published findings in peer-reviewed journals and presented at major conferences, including APHA and CSTE
Further significant achievements during his doctoral studies and under Dr. Buxbaum’s mentorship include:
- Leadership Development Academy Award at the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minoritized Scientists (ABRCMS) Innovation Programs (October 2024)
- John Ruffin Young Investigator Award at Xavier University Health Disparities Conference (April 2024)
- Deep South Center for Environmental Justice Award ($2,000) at the 2023 HBCU Climate Change Conference
- Best Graduate Clinical Research Award + Cash prize ($1,000) at the 2022 FAMU/AbbVie Science Research Forum
- Multiple publications in high-impact journals, including JAMA Network Open, Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention, Cureus Medical Journal, MMWR, and International Journal of Public Health
- Peer reviewer for prestigious journals, including JAMA Network Open and Public Health Reports
- Presented research at major conferences, including AACR, APHA, and ASCO
- Mentored over 27 students interested in statistics and data analysis in public health
- Completed specialized training through NIH Grant Proposals Seminar, International Symposium on Human Genetics, and Mayo Clinic’s Computational Genomics Annual Workshop
- Certificate in Computational Genomics from Mayo Clinic and University of Illinois Alliance
Lastly, Olumide received financial support from:
- FAMU Graduate Fellowship and Tuition, 2021-2024
- Florida/West Africa Linkage Institute Award (FLAWI),
2020-2024 - Institute of Public Health (IPH) Program for travel to the
APHA conference (three years) - Xavier University Health Disparities Conference for
travel to Xavier's Conference - Scholarship for the 2nd Artificial Intelligence (AI)
summer school, symposium and datathon at Emory
University in Atlanta, August 2024
APHA — American Public Health Association
AACR — American Association for Cancer Research
ASCO — American Society of Clinical Oncology
CSTE — Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists