Dr. Sola Olopade is Professor of Medicine and Family Medicine and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in the Biological Sciences Division and the Pritzker School of Medicine at the University of Chicago. He joined our faculty in 2009 to provide leadership in the development of a Global Health program, which has been successful and expanded from a Department of Medicine-based program to a University-wide program. An environmental scientist, Dr. Olopade early recognized the multiple potential health risks of exposure to household air pollution (HAP), an underrecognized global health issue.
His scientific research in Nigeria from 2012 to 2015 was the first to explore the potential health benefits of transitioning pregnant women from cooking with polluting fuels to clean fuels. He discovered that more mothers in the intervention group who cooked with cleaner fuels had better birth outcomes. He followed this observation with a study on building a consumer market for ethanol-methanol cooking fuel in Lagos Nigeria. With several RO1 funding from the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), he is now extending this research to study how HAP exposure affects child development and also how to use an implementation science strategy approach to encourage and promote the adoption of clean cooking technologies.
Locally, in partnership with a community in an environmental justice area on the South Side of Chicago, he is investigating the impact of exposure to air pollution on asthma control in children. In this project, his team has deployed low cost exposure monitors in a hyperlocal distribution in strategic locations ranging from porches of personal homes, near playgrounds and public areas where children play to capture ambient exposure levels and relate to asthma control trends. He remains focused on his research investigating the genetic basis for asthma in people of African ancestry.
Dr. Olopade is also devoted to educating and training young people, particularly focusing on helping trainees develop strong research skills and a firm grasp of the ethical principles that ground sound medical and research practice. He directs an R25 funded program focused on diversifying biomedical science workforce. In all his efforts in the realms of education, research, and community service, Dr. Olopade has worked tirelessly to promote diversity and inclusion and to developing human capacity for self-determination among vulnerable populations.
