Olanrewaju Adekola, MD, ScM
Clinical Assistant Professor
Department of Family and Community Medicine
Dr. Adekola joins SUNY Downstate as a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine. His academic interests center on the social determinants of health, with particular attention to how systems of power and privilege shape public health policy, medical education, and the relationships between patients, physicians, healthcare institutions, and government.
Born and raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota to Yoruba parents who emigrated from Ibadan, Nigeria, Dr. Adekola developed an early interest in the intersections of culture, language, ethnicity, and belonging. These experiences continue to inform both his clinical work and broader academic interests.
As a medical student, he pursued dual interests in social medicine and global health through a longitudinal integrated clerkship focused on urban underserved primary care, an observership at Oyo Baptist Hospital in Nigeria, and a clinical rotation in pediatric emergency medicine at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México in Mexico City. During residency, he further developed these interests by providing volunteer medical care for refugees and displaced persons in Calais, France, before serving as chief resident for his program’s anti-racism curriculum.
Dr. Adekola is a member of Physicians for a National Health Program, the World Organization of Family Doctors, the American Academy of Family Physicians, and the American Medical Association.
Outside of medicine, he enjoys cooking, studying wine, following sports, and collecting vinyl records. He speaks Spanish and French and is currently working to improve his Yoruba.
Education & Training
- Undergraduate: Johns Hopkins University
- Graduate School: Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
- Medical School: University of Minnesota
- Residency: Kaiser Permanente Washington Family Medicine Residency