Spotlight on Dr. Oluwaseun Ojomo

For the third consecutive year, Global Engagement has sponsored an international scholar to participate in the Mixed Methods Research Workshop, which took place in Palo Alto from April 17 to 19, 2025.

Dr. Oluwaseun Ojomo, MBBS, MSPH, MSc, is the program administrator of the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program as well as a Research Associate at the University of Global Health Equity (UGHE) in Rwanda. He is a medical practitioner with an MBBS (MD equivalent) from the College of Medicine, University of Lagos, Idi-Araba, Lagos, Nigeria. He also holds a Master’s Degree in Sexually Reproductive and Perinatal Health from Dalarna University, Falun, Sweden, and a Master’s Degree in Public Health from Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, United Kingdom.

Dr. Ojomo, please tell us about your role at UGHE.

Prior to January 2025, as a Research Associate, I provided high-level research and academic support to the Dean of the School of Medicine. My responsibilities included managing the research portfolio, assisting in writing research grants and scientific engagements, overseeing the progression of all global research studies, coordinating author teams for scientific writing, conducting research literature reviews to gather information supporting the Dean’s global research portfolio, and collaborating with other research teams to manage grant applications, research projects, reporting, and administrative duties.

I joined UGHE in February 2024, and in my current role as the Program Administrator for the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program, I support the Program Director in executing the program’s strategic goals. I oversee day-to-day operations and ensure the seamless delivery of services to scholars. This involves coordinating program activities, supporting scholars, engaging stakeholders, and tracking progress toward program objectives.

I continue to provide research and academic support to the Office of the Dean of the School of Medicine and also support the Center for Equity in Global Surgery and the Center for Gender Equity in supervising research projects of their master’s students.

In addition to your administrative role, you also have your own research portfolio. Please tell us about the focus of your current research.

Before the Mixed Methods Research Workshop I had two topics, but the one that fascinated me most was the one that I used for the workshop worksheet. The study was evaluating the contribution of an intervention called: “Private Sector Provider Model” to assess the sustainability of a project in Rwanda that is called: “Integrating Nutrition and Early Childhood Development Project — A Case Study of the Savings and Internal Lending Communities Approach.”

We used the case study of the Savings and Internal Lending Communities approach. The research is to assess the sustainability and effectiveness of this approach in improving nutrition, livelihood, and behavioral change in the context of the private sector partnership model at 10 locations in Rwanda. We are comparing the effectiveness of that approach and determining ways on how it could be sustained. We are also looking at how the project can be scaled up into other districts of Rwanda. Rwanda has 30 districts; we are currently implementing the project in 10 of them.

Unfortunately, with the executive orders from the new US administration, the project has been temporarily put on hold, because it is a USAID-funded project. The beneficiaries continue to benefit from the skills they have acquired in financial literacy and economic empowerment, so the initiative remains operational, but the technical support provided has been put on-hold at this time.

We were delighted you could join the Mixed Methods Research Workshop. Please describe your overall experience at Stanford and tell us about how things were organized, the content, and what you gained in terms of knowledge and connection with staff.

Let me start from the first communication we had when Professor Abebe Bekele, the Dean of the School of Medicine at UGHE, introduced me to the Stanford team. Since the very first moment, everything was seamless, there was clear communication before the workshop, during, and after.

Logistics were perfectly planned, and I liked the follow up from Global Engagement, including the encouragement to push for an expedited visa appointment with the US embassy when I faced delays in scheduling my visa appointment. They also coordinated and followed up on my travel arrangements, the lodging, and everything.

I didn’t experience any issues during my travels, because I was very well prepared for the trip. I even received prompt instructions on how to act in case I was subject to delays or issues at the airport, considering the new travel guidelines and border restrictions. I had all my documentation ready, and it just took me less than three minutes at the border control desk.

In terms of the workshop itself, I can say that it was so insightful. The content was rich and comprehensive, and it covered advanced mixed methods research, which significantly enhanced my understanding. The most important takeaway from the workshop was learning how to effectively integrate quantitative and qualitative research methods. Prior to the workshop, I was unaware of this concept and was inadvertently mixing multi-methods research approaches, believing I was conducting mixed methods research when in reality I was employing multi-methods.

The faculty and workshop organizers were so dedicated and supportive, and I mostly liked the hands-on part where we had consultative group sessions. I also liked the fact that we were having a real-time hands-on experience working on our projects while we learn and incorporated our learning into our projects. It was really fantastic, and I can’t wait to disseminate the knowledge that I have learned to my colleagues at my home institution.

Do you have any suggestions on how we might improve the workshop or your experience? 

I know that the workshop is designed to last three days and that it has more didactic sessions. I’m thinking if it’s possible to incorporate more interactive activities to encourage peer-to-peer learning support, I think that would add value to the workshop. Also, I think that it’s very important to include a post-workshop mentorship program, and if it’s possible to assign a few of the workshop participants to the faculty to mentor them would be beneficial. Personally, I made an effort to connect with a few faculty participants for follow-up, particularly those whose research interests and topics aligned with mine.

Please tell us about some of the interactions you had with faculty, staff, and students at Stanford during your visit.

The day before the workshop, Global Engagement arranged for me to meet with some key people at Stanford and I found it very insightful, it really prepared me for the workshop.

I met with Dr. Brooke Cotter, Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine, and I learned from her so much about the collaboration efforts between UGHE and Stanford. I also met Dr. Malerie Pratt from Stanford Surgery who updated me on the current projects that Stanford is jointly implementing with UGHE in terms of AI and medical education especially in the Sub Sahara region and it was fascinating to learn all about it. I met with [Dr.] Lakshika Tennakoon, a data analyst in the section of [Acute Care Surgery], who helped me understand how to use large data [samples] for decision making. We will continue working together and she kindly promised to help me remotely, in that aspect. I also had an interesting conversation with Yosefa Gilon, the Associate Director for Global Health Education, Center for Innovation in Global Health.

The skills that I gained will significantly enhance my work in terms of incorporating quantitative and qualitative mixed methods in my research and will certainly improve my other relevant skills, such as manuscript and proposal writing. I also want to thank medical student Zoe Hughes for the wonderful campus tour and for showing me the new and old buildings, the unique artwork, and the breathtaking landscaping.

I enjoyed every minute of it.

We were glad to host you and hope to continue to support this collaboration.

Stanford University and UGHE have forged a strong partnership that has made significant strides in a variety of areas, such as curriculum design, capacity building, training, joint research projects, the support with CEGS, etc. Moving forward, I see many future opportunities to extend our joint work in global surgery research and health equity, especially in low-resource settings.

The solid collaboration with Stanford experts will continue strengthening the capacities of the faculty of UGHE. This partnership definitely serves as a valuable asset that will positively impact our institution at every levels.

It was an exciting experience for me to visit Stanford, and I’d like to thank everyone involved for organizing the visit and for the warm welcome and generous hospitality extended to me.