Science Hero and Mentor: Dr. Olalekan Michael Ogundele, an Assistant Professor at the Louisiana State University. He is to me, an embodiment of the “You Can” spirit irrespective of your background.

 

Research: I am currently working to better understand the role of intra-adipose tissue crosstalk between some immune cells and adipocytes in the overall physiology and pathophysiology of the adipose tissue.

 

I attended Yarmouk Nursery and Primary School and Federal Government College in Kaduna, Nigeria and proceeded to the University of Ilorin, Nigeria for my bachelor and master’s degrees in Physiology. I am a Lecturer of Physiology at the University of Ilorin and a PhD Fellow at the Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciencia, Portugal.

 

Although I have found a new love in immunometabolism, my first enthusiastic contact with science was as an undergraduate student of Physiology. Neuroscience was so intriguing. I was curious about consciousness/awareness, how it brings the mind to a place beneath the automatic pilot, allowing for new combinations to be created and in turn affecting or bringing about a particular behaviour. I was also fascinated by the relationship between the electrical activity of the brain and the mental subjective form of awareness. 

 

Challenges in scientific research are common, likewise in a PhD journey. However, I take every challenge in my current research as an opportunity to learn new things. My previous challenge was to work hard enough to merit a prestigious fellowship, and a future challenge would be replicating good science when I return home after my PhD. 

 

I really hope that students like me would see science as not just a means to earn a livelihood but a way to make the much needed positive and sustainable difference in our society