Health Disparities Work Group

The Health Disparities Working Group mission is to give greater visibility to health disparities research at the University of Minnesota, School of Public Health (SPH) and nationally; develop collaborations with faculty and community partners; and ensure SPH students are well- trained to work in a diverse society.

The HDWG meets quarterly and welcomes new members. For more information about joining the HDWG, please contact, Kathleen Call at callx001@umn.edu or Rhonda Jones-Webb at jones010@umn.edu.

Kolawole S. Okuyemi

Kolawole S. Okuyemi, MD, MPH

Dr. Okuyemi is a professor of Family Medicine and Community Health and director for the Program in Health Disparities Research at the University of Minnesota Medical School. He is director of Cancer Health Disparities for the Masonic Cancer Center, an NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Minnesota.

He received his medical degree from University of Ilorin, Nigeria, completed a family medicine residency and Master of Public Health at the University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas (USA), and a public health research fellowship at the Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia (USA).

Dr Okuyemi received the 2011 Researcher of the Year Award from the Minnesota Academy of Family Physician. He was also recognized as among the top 5 NIH-funded researchers in 2010.

As Director of Program in Health Disparities at the University of Minnesota Medical School, he leads a dynamic interdisciplinary team of more than 25 junior, mid-career, and senior health disparities research scientists conducting extramurally (mostly NIH) funded research in areas such as nicotine dependence/smoking cessation, nutrition/obesity, kidney diseases, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, pharmacokinetics, neuroimaging, health services research, patient-provider relationship, cancer prevention, and community-based participatory research.

Dr. Okuyemi's career in the last 20 years has focused on research and programs to improve the health of underserved populations and eliminate health disparities using pharmacological and culturally tailored behavioral interventions.

In addition to being the PI and Director of the NCI-funded Minnesota Center for Cancer Collaborations (a Community Networks Program Center, 2010-2015), he has been Principal Investigator and Co-Investigator on several federally (NCI, NIDA, NHLBI, HRSA) funded studies totaling nearly $30 million aimed at reducing cancer-related health disparities especially among African Americans, African Immigrants, and homeless populations. He is Co-PI with Professor Jean Forster (EpiCH) of a $2.2 million NCI-funded R25T Cancer Education and Career Development grant on cancer disparities to train Pre- and Post-doctoral fellows; and Core Director of the Community Engagement Core of the NIMHD-funded P60 Center for Health Equity. He has also directed a federally-funded Clinical Scholars Faculty Development Program for faculty in Family Medicine, General Internal Medicine, and General Pediatrics.

Dr. Okuyemi has a passion for mentoring and has mentored several faculty, postdoctoral fellows, graduate, and undergraduate students many of whom have progressed to establish their own independent academic, research, or other health professional careers. Dr Okuyemi has published over 90 peer-reviewed scientific articles and book chapters.

Recent publications:

Okuyemi KS, Zheng H, Guo H, Ahluwalia JS. Predictors of adherence to nicotine gum and counseling among African-American light smokers. J Gen Intern Med. 2010;25:969-976.

Berg CJ, Thomas JL, Guo H, An LC, Okuyemi KS, Collins TC, et al. Predictors of smoking reduction among Blacks. Nicotine Tob Res. 2010;12:423-431.

Faseru B, Cox LS, Bronars CA, Opole I, Reed GA, Mayo MS, Ahluwalia JS, Okuyemi KS. Design, recruitment, and retention of African American smokers in a pharmacokinetic study. BMC Med Res Methodol. 2010;10:6.

Warren J, Okuyemi KS, Guo H, Thomas J, Ahluwalia J. Predicting implementation of home smoking restrictions among African American light smokers. Am J Health Behav. 2010;34:110-118.

Ho MK, Faseru B, Choi WS, Nollen NL, Mayo MS, Thomas JL, Okuyemi KS, et al. Utility and relationships of biomarkers of smoking in African American light smokers. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2009;18:3426-3434.

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HDIC concentration information

To learn more about the Health Disparities Interdisciplinary Contcentration for MPH students, see the Training section of this website.

New community engagement report

See a recent report on community engagement from the Duke University’s Translational Medicine Institute. The report is titled “Researchers and Their Communities: The Challenge of Meaningful Community Engagement.”

Download the report

Grant announcement

The Health Disparities Work Group is proud to announce the Cancer-related Health Disparities Education Development Program Grant (R25T). The R25T is aimed at training new investigators who are prepared to develop, test and evaluate interventions in both clinical and population settings to reduce cancer-related inequities among disadvantaged populations.

Funds will be used to support pre-doctoral and three post-doctoral fellows for 3 years. The first cohort of fellows will be admitted Fall 2012. Jean Forster, Ph.D. (Division of Epidemiology, School of Public Health) and Kola Okuyemi, MD, (Program in Health Disparities, University of Minnesota, Medical School) will serve as Principal Investigators (P.I.)

For more information contact Jean Forster or Kola Okuyemi.