Toyese Oyeyemi Selected as Inaugural Fellow Based on Commitment to Advancing Social Justice through Public Health Research and Education
The Center for Measurement Justice (CMJ) has partnered with NBME to support the inaugural CMJ-NBME Dissertation Fellowship. NBME is a mission-driven organization that specializes in the creation of high-quality assessments and learning tools. Both organizations share a commitment to learning assessments that are meaningful, fair and equitable.
Together, we created the CMJ-NBME Fellowship, a competitive dissertation fellowship for members of groups historically underrepresented in measurement. And together, we are thrilled to announce Toyese Oyemami as the selected fellow for CMJ-NBME Dissertation Fellowship. With a distinguished background in public health education and his impressive research centered around social mission, Oyeyemi has also shown a dedicated commitment to advancing social justice.
A committee composed of leaders from CMJ and NBME selected Toyese Oyeyemi as our inaugural recipient based on the following criteria: academic record, project feasibility, research design and significance, justice orientation and alignment with CMJ’s mission and values.
The two-year fellowship provides a stipend to conduct dissertation level research on assessment justice. Support for Oyeyemi’s research is an example of how we’re working to build the field of justice-oriented assessment, by increasing the community of Black, Brown, and Indigenous scholars in the assessment and measurement field.
“A relentless commitment to equitable, justice-oriented medical assessment processes will transform – and save – both the lives of medical professionals and the patients they seek to serve,” Jennifer Randall, PhD, CMJ President said. “CMJ is honored to partner with NBME to support the development of scholars and practitioners dedicated to this cause, and we are especially excited about this year’s recipient of the dissertation fellowship.”
Toyese Oyeyemi is currently a Doctor of Public Health candidate at the Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University. His impressive research is focused on measuring the social mission of public health programs, as well as identifying practical solutions for these institutions to fulfill their social accountability.
“I’ve spent most of my career in academia, and what became clear early on was that the social justice role of public health schools is immense,”says Oyeyemi. “My real ‘come to the light moment’ was the realization that as soon as you walk out of the public health school, you see that there are contributions that can be made in our own backyard.”
To advance this work, Oyeyemi also serves as executive director of Social Mission Alliance, a national movement focused on health equity and training health professionals as agents of more equitable health care. Social Mission Alliance works to transform health profession schools toward socially accountable practices and policies within their institutions and their community.
“The CMJ-NBME Fellowship will help to answer the question of ‘Now what?’ — once we define an institution’s social mission, how can we practically use that knowledge to make changes for the future of public health education?”
This CMJ-NBME Fellowship not only enriches our fellowship program at CMJ, but also aligns seamlessly with NBME’s contributions to medical education, assessment research, and social justice in health.
“We are excited to partner with CMJ on this important dissertation fellowship,” Ye Tong, PhD, NBME Senior Vice President, Assessment Operations said. “Through joint collaboration and mentorship,, we hope we can make concrete progress toward diversity and equity both in the measurement profession and practice.”
The addition of the CMJ-NBME Dissertation Fellowship will support CMJ’s robust fellowship program and adds to NBME’s contributions to medical education and assessment research, learner supports, pathway programs and health equity.