The University of Lethbridge’s Dr. Oluwagbohunmi (Olu) Awosoga has been awarded a fellowship by the Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowship Program to travel to Nigeria.
“I am always looking for opportunities to grow both academically and personally, and my appointment as a Carnegie Fellow in the Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowship program will serve both purposes,” says Awosoga, a professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences who is particularly adept at the application of statistics as it relates to health sciences.. “This fellowship will allow me to further my research on how the health status and quality of life of health care workers affect the quality of care received by patients.”
While there, Awosoga will work with Chrisland University, Abeokuta & College of Medicine, University of Ibadan and Dr. Adesola Odole on research collaboration, curriculum co-development, student mentoring, a student exchange program, and host workshops and seminars among other activities.
The project, Curriculum Co-Development for New Programs in Statistics and Basic Medical Sciences Plus Mentorship and Research collaboration, will see Awosoga replicate one of his current research studies from scratch to finish, and mentor students and faculty members on processes involved in an applied research study.
“I plan to deliver workshops and seminars, engage in joint publications, and set in motion a Memorandum of Understanding between the U of L and the two host institutions, the University of Ibadan and Chrisland University,” he adds. “This would lay a foundation for international student recruitment, research collaborations with faculty members, and a faculty and student exchange program with the University of Lethbridge.”
Awosoga is expected to deliver seminars/workshops on mixed methods research design, structural equation modelling, multi-level data psychometric analysis, teaching strategies to improve skills of medical educators, and replicate one of his studies in the vulnerable populations of older adults.
“I plan to use the results of this study to provide immediate recommendations on the health care practices taking place in my home country of Nigeria,” says Awosoga. “The Chrisland University, Abeokuta project is one of 56 projects that pairs African Diaspora scholars with higher education institutions and collaborators in Africa to work together on curriculum co-development, collaborative research, graduate training and mentoring activities.
ABOUT — Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowship Program
The Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowship Program, now in its fourth year, is designed to reverse Africa’s brain drain, strengthen capacity at the host institutions, and develop long-term, mutually beneficial collaborations between universities in Africa and the United States and Canada. It is funded by Carnegie Corporation of New York and managed by the Institute of International Education (IIE) in collaboration with United States International University-Africa (USIU-Africa) in Nairobi, Kenya, which coordinates the activities of the Advisory Council. A total of 527 African Diaspora Fellowships have now been awarded for scholars to travel to Africa since the program’s inception in 2013.