Professor Oyeronke A. Odunola is the Dean, Faculty of Basic Medical Science, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria. She is the Director of Research, Cancer Research and Molecular Biology Laboratories, Department of Biochemistry, the immediate past Head, Department of Biochemistry, immediate past Director, Research Management Office and Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) Ambassador at the same University. She has also served the University as Hall Warden (Obafemi Awolowo and Queen Elizabeth II Halls) and in several committees and panels.
She obtained her BSc, MSc and PhD degrees in Biochemistry from University of Ibadan in 1984, 1986 and 1990 respectively. She emerged the best graduating student at both the B.Sc. and M.Sc. levels.
Professor Odunola has thirty-seven (37) years of teaching and research experience in cancer research and molecular biology, environmental toxicology, immune-oncology, nutritional genomics and climate change. She also has expertise in research administration and management, and community engagement. She has successfully supervised twelve (12) PhD theses, one hundred and fifty (150) MSc dissertations and over two hundred and fifty (250) undergraduate projects. Furthermore, she has organised and coordinated several training workshops on manuscript writing, grantsmanship, data management and commercialization, researcher’s development and research ethics, mentoring, research administration and financial management. She has also facilitated a couple of cancer awareness and screening programmes. She presented the 468th University of Ibadan Inaugural Lecture titled: “The Bigger is the Sadder: Cancer Burden as a Challenge to Sustainable Health” on Thursday, 19th September, 2019.
Prof. Odunola has served as External Examiner to several Universities in Nigeria and to University of the Western Cape, Bellville, South Africa; University of South Africa, South Africa and University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana, and as External Assessor for University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana and University of Development Studies, Tamale, Ghana.
A mentor per excellence, she served as a mentor on the African Women in Agricultural Research and Development (AWARD) programme. She has successfully mentored numerous Early and Mid-Career Researchers and coedited a book on ‘Building the Next Generation of Mentors in Africa: Principles, Practices & Impacts’. In addition, she has a total of one hundred and six (106) publications in reputable national and international peer-reviewed journals, seventy (70) abstracts in conference proceedings, and twenty-six (26) plenary / invited lectures to her credit.
Professor Odunola is a member of Organisation for Women in Science in Developing World (OWSDW), Science Association of Nigeria; West African Research and Innovation Management Association (WARIMA), African Society of Drosopillists (ASD), Society of Toxicology, USA and Society of Research Administrators International (SRAI), USA. Professor Odunola is an honorary Fellow of the Chemical Society of Nigeria, Kwara Chapter, Member and one of the Technical Advisers, Dove-Haven Foundation, and a Member of the Board of Trustees of Ellen Adeyinka Anjorin Cancer Foundation.