Folakemi Odedina
Professor and Enterprise Deputy Director for Community Outreach and Engagement, Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center
Dr. Folakemi Odedina is Professor and Enterprise Deputy Director for Community Outreach & Engagement at the Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center; a member of the Mayo Clinic Clinical Trial Strategy and Governance Leadership team, leading the Community Engagement/Health Equity Clinical Trials Strategy; and the Founding Principal Investigator for the NCI Epidemiology and Genomics Research Program-supported Prostate Cancer Transatlantic Consortium (CaPTC). For over 30 years, her research scholarship has exclusively focused on addressing health equity globally. Funded primarily by the US National Cancer Institute and Department of Defense, her research program focuses on improving the health of minoritized and marginalized populations globally. Dr. Odedina has directed over 50 funded research projects, primarily using a community-based participatory approach, mixed-methods approach, and translational behavioral research principles. In 2005, her research program evolved into a global program that focused on studying cancer in people of African ancestry and includes increasing the participation of people of African ancestry in clinical trials. Her contribution to Health Equity research has resulted in multiple accomplishments and recognitions. Recently, she was recognized with the 2023 AACR Distinguished Lectureship on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities due to her dedication to cancer control and care health equity.
