Bisola Olayemi

Bisola Olayemi is a Nigerian medical doctor, global mental health researcher, and Mastercard Foundation Scholar pursuing an MSc in International Health and Tropical Medicine at the Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford. She is a member of Reuben College.

Bisola is passionate about improving care for vulnerable populations, particularly women with substance use disorders. Before Oxford, she served as a Research Supervisor at the WHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Mental Health, Neurosciences and Drug and Alcohol Abuse, where she supported qualitative research across primary healthcare centres in collaboration with the University of Washington to improve equitable access to mental health care in Nigeria.

She previously contributed to an NIH-funded digital mental health project that developed and evaluated a mobile application to support depression care among pregnant adolescents in Nigeria. Her contributions earned her a $7500 capacity-building bursary award, and she has since led and co-authored four peer-reviewed publications.

Beyond research, Bisola has volunteered in rehabilitation centres and community initiatives supporting people in recovery from substance use disorders. These experiences shaped her vision to develop gender-sensitive reintegration models that combine clinical care, economic empowerment, and policy reform to support sustainable recovery for women.

Bisola graduated in the top 2% of her medical class at the University of Ibadan, where she received several awards for academic excellence. She is also an award-winning public speaker and the founder of Shará, a handmade bag business reflecting her belief in entrepreneurship as a pathway to empowerment and social impact.

At Oxford, Bisola hopes to deepen her expertise in health systems, innovation, and policy to design scalable, evidence-based interventions that create sustainable reintegration pathways for vulnerable populations across Africa.