Board & Staff

Kolawole S. Okuyemi, MD, MPH, is Professor and Chair for the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine at the University of Utah School of Medicine. He also serves as the Senior Director for Diversity and Inclusion at the Huntsman Cancer Institute as well as the Associate Director for Mentorship Development for the Center for Clinical and Translational Sciences (CCTS).

Prior to coming to Utah, he was Professor and the inaugural Endowed Chair for Health Equity Research in the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health at the University of Minnesota Medical School Twin Cities. In Minnesota he served as the Director for the Program in Health Disparities Research and Director of Cancer Health Disparities for the Masonic Cancer Center.

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, and a public health research fellowship at the Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia.

Dr. Okuyemi’s career in the last 20 years focused on research and training programs to improve the health of underserved populations and to eliminate health disparities/inequities using pharmacological and culturally tailored behavioral interventions as well as community-engaged research approaches. He is one of the Principal Investigators for the National Research Mentoring Network (NRMN) and serves as PI/Director of NRMN’s Professional Development Core. Dr. Okuyemi has a passion for mentoring. He has mentored faculty, trainees, and students, many of whom have established their own independent academic, research, or other health professional careers.