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College of Life Sciences

Taking Public Health Out of The Classroom: Oluwadamilola Obalana

By Aubrey Johnson,
April 10, 2024

Oluwandamilola Obalana, MS ’24 (PH), grew up in Nigeria and visited her paternal grandmother’s clinic often. Only a small child then, she couldn’t do much more than run around and observe. But the care with which her grandmother attended to patients inspired Obalana to go into the medical field. She received her bachelor's degree in microbiology, and in her last semester, took an introduction to public health class. The world opened up to her, and she realized that she didn’t want to treat patients; she wanted to prevent them from getting sick in the first place.

After her graduation, Obalana started classes at BYU-Pathways and eventually moved to BYU. Doors started opening up for her within a year. Friends offered her work designing health curriculum for a Ugandan non-profit and working on Nigerian humanitarian projects, pushing her further into public health. “I try to see everything I study as not just studying, but as the people I’m trying to help—other children of God,” says Obalana.

I try to see everything I study as not just studying, but as the people I’m trying to help—other children of God.
Oluwadamilola Obalana
A woman in a knee-length blue dress with black sleeves sits elegantly on a gray couch with a wide smile. She has dark brown skin, waist-length dark box braids that fade out to red, half of them pulled back, and red painted nails. She also wears a circular gold pendant with the Salt Lake City Temple engraved on it.
Photo by Tanner Frost
A woman in a knee-length blue dress with black sleeves sits elegantly on a gray couch with a wide smile. She has dark brown skin, waist-length dark box braids that fade out to red, half of them pulled back, and red painted nails. She also wears a circular gold pendant with the Salt Lake City Temple engraved on it.
Photo by Tanner Frost

Building Community Networks

Studying in Provo hasn’t always been easy, and adjusting to the vastly different culture and educational system took time. But Obalana found joy in building her community. “I am the kind of person that loves to reach out to people. [In my cohort,] we don't just think ourselves as classmates, we’ve become more like family… Find your people,” Obalana advises. Outside of her classes, she found that “participating in campus activities where I get to meet people from my country [and other] people of color… helps me to not feel alone at BYU.”

Several professors strengthened Obalana’s mentorship network by connecting her with professionals and academics outside of BYU. “[My study focus] wasn’t something I just came up with overnight,” Obalana shares. “I talked with a lot of professors. Then I compared [their interests] to what I’m interested in. Talking to them helped me [clearly define my goals and] realize I want to get a PhD.” Through their guidance, Obalana narrowed in on maternal and child health research, receiving certificates in global health and epidemiology.

Outside the Classroom

Obalana proactively seizes opportunities as they come her way. A guest lecturer from the Utah Society for Public Health Education (USOPHE) became her gateway to a position as a student board member. In this role, she organized networking events for students and created a multi-university student advisory committee. “I just told myself I want to get out of my comfort zone and push myself,” she reflects. “There is so much I can do to help people around me and influence the world at large, and it starts with my community.”

There is so much I can do to help people around me and influence the world at large, and it starts with my community.
Oluwadamilola Obalana

Attending conferences has also been a large part of Obalana’s graduate experience. She attended the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists Conference as a state department intern, the American Public Health Association Conference, and even traveled to Canada for the International Leaders Association Conference. Additionally, she presented her lab’s VeggiMeter at the SOPHE Annual Conference, a device that measures fruit and vegetable intake without a blood sample. Obalana’s lab is trying to standardize the device in hospitals and clinics, so medical professionals can measure nutrition without having to take blood from those who are needle-averse, particularly children.

Opportunities like this are critical for Obalana, who wants to apply her research outside the classroom. “Professors have the academic side, and [these experiences] helped me gain more of an industry perspective,” she says. “Attending these conferences helped me see professionals in other areas of public health, and I still keep a communication line with a lot of them. They always send opportunities [they] think [I] would like.”

A woman in a knee-length blue dress with black sleeves sits on a gray couch, looking thoughtfully down on the silver Dell laptop resting on the table in front of her. Her hands move across the keyboard. She has dark brown skin and waist-length dark box braids that fade out to red, half of them pulled back. She also wears a circular gold pendant with the Salt Lake City Temple engraved on it. On the back of the laptop are several stickers: a silhouette of the African continent that says "I am the change," a blue cursive script that reads "You belong at BYU," a half circle sticker with a dark blue mountain silhouette and an orange and yellow sun rising behind it, a circular sticker that says "BE YOU" in large bubble font, a cut-out BYU Y sticker in dark blue, a pair of hands holding up a globe, and two other unreadable blue and white circular stickers.
Photo by Tanner Frost
A woman in a knee-length blue dress with black sleeves sits on a gray couch, looking thoughtfully down on the silver Dell laptop resting on the table in front of her. Her hands move across the keyboard. She has dark brown skin and waist-length dark box braids that fade out to red, half of them pulled back. She also wears a circular gold pendant with the Salt Lake City Temple engraved on it. On the back of the laptop are several stickers: a silhouette of the African continent that says "I am the change," a blue cursive script that reads "You belong at BYU," a half circle sticker with a dark blue mountain silhouette and an orange and yellow sun rising behind it, a circular sticker that says "BE YOU" in large bubble font, a cut-out BYU Y sticker in dark blue, a pair of hands holding up a globe, and two other unreadable blue and white circular stickers.
Photo by Tanner Frost

Guided by God

Despite the support she’s received here, initially it felt as if the world was trying to keep her from her master’s program. Obalana arrived in Provo the day before orientation to find she didn't have a place to live. She reached out to her Pathways missionaries and her former MTC mission leaders for support, and they were able to provide temporary housing while she found another apartment.

While she could have just given up on that first day, Obalana decided to stick with her plan. “Sometimes you have to do something for no reason. The Lord is asking you do something, and you just have to do it,” she considers. “I did not come here just because I want to be here, I came here because the Lord feels I need to be here at this time. [He] will make a way for me.”

Following her grandmother’s example, Obalana found the strength to hear God, leave her country, and follow her passion. Now she eagerly anticipates starting her PhD program and further researching maternal and child health.

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