Gbolahan (GB) Olarewaju

Dr. Gbolahan (GB) Olarewaju is a first-year Public Health and Preventative Medicine resident. He was born and raised in Nigeria and immigrated to Canada where he completed an undergraduate degree in Biomedical Science (Hons.) and a Masters in Human Health and Nutritional Science at the University of Guelph, Ontario.

As a queer Black immigrant, Dr. Olarewaju has a keen interest in improving health access and equity for marginalized people including youth, immigrants, queer, Black, Indigenous and other people of colour. Prior to medical school, this interest was cultivated into interdisciplinary advocacy and research work as the Coordinator of International, Multi-Faith and Refugee programs at the University of Guelph, and as the Vancouver coordinator for the national gay, bisexual and queer men’s health study Engage.

Dr. Olarewaju considers himself an academic activist and his primary research currently focuses on the experiences of Black medical students in Canada and the ways race, racism and health intersect to impact health outcomes. During his medical training at UBC, he was the inaugural Chair of the Black Medical Students Association of Canada (BMSAC) and chair of the BMSAC research committee. He continues his advocacy work with various EDI advisory groups for the Faculty of Medicine and as a collaborator on the Canada-US Coalition to End Race Correction in Healthcare (CU-CERCH).

Dr. Olarewaju has been involved in non-profit organizations focused on 2SLGBTQIA+ health and his primary drivers in public health are health promotion and protection for the most vulnerable members of society. Naturally, he is also interested in HIV, Hepatitis C and STBBI prevention and management.