UNMC College of Medicine employees of the month are nominated by college leaders. Tolulope Fashina, MD, was recognized for exemplary work by Ronald Krueger, MD, McGaw Professor and Chair of the UNMC Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences.
Name: Tolulope Fashina, MD
Job Title: Ophthalmic clinical research supervisor
Hometown: Ondo, Nigeria
Talk about your job and what you like best about it: A big-picture summary of my role and duties is that I work closely with principal investigators, sponsors, research organizations and members of research teams across UNMC to facilitate and support daily clinical trials and study activities within the UNMC Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences. I like being part of the process that provides patients access to advanced medical interventions in the form of drugs, devices, techniques or procedures at no cost. Health care cost/expenditure is undoubtedly a major barrier to health care access. The potential impact that access to these medical advancements has on the health of the patient, given that the associated financial burden is eliminated, is rewarding. I like that I am privileged to play a role in making that happen for each patient I cross paths with while performing my duties in this role.
I recently transitioned into this role from providing global ophthalmic health research support in my prior role within the department. From a global health research perspective, I really like that, in addition to advancing the field through research, it afforded me an opportunity to support the development and strengthening of vision care infrastructure and systems in low-resource settings where the research projects are being implemented.
Three things people may not know about me:
- I was 16 years old when I left my family and friends to go to a different country to begin my medical studies. It was my first time traveling internationally, and I ended up boarding six flights via six countries in total between Lagos, Nigeria and the Commonwealth of Dominica. At that time, it seemed cool for a 16-year-old’s first solo travel adventure, but in hindsight, that was a very weird itinerary.
- I really enjoy traveling, and if I were to choose a different career outside of the medical field, I would pursue a career as a pilot. I still hope to somehow learn and fly a plane at some point.
- I do not have a favorite food or color.