Olufikayo Bamidele is a Research Associate (Evidence Synthesis) in the Academy of Primary Care at the Hull York Medical School, working with a team of researchers on the TRANSFORMing Cancer Outcomes in Yorkshire project.
Upon completion of a B.Sc. degree in Microbiology at the University of Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria at the age of 20 years, she took up various roles including teaching and banking as she explored her career interests and ambitions. Following a period of self reflection and discovery, she decided to come to the United Kingdom to study for a Master's degree in Public Health at the University of Bedfordshire (Luton) where she graduated with a distinction (2012 - 2013). Her Master's dissertation explored the reasons for delayed uptake of the NHS breast screening programme among Black African women in Luton, UK.
She then proceeded to Ulster University, Northern Ireland where she was awarded a Vice-Chancellor's Research Scholarship for her PhD titled 'Post Treatment for Prostate Cancer: The Experiences and Psychosocial Needs of Black African and Black Caribbean Men and their Partners' (2015 - 2019).
Olufikayo is passionate about reducing health inequalities in cancer experiences and outcomes especially among higher risk but under-researched groups. She is particularly interested in the psychosocial aspects of cancer survivorship, and how gender-culture intersections impact on illness experiences and healthcare access/utilisation among Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) groups.
She is an early career researcher with particular expertise in qualitative research, systematic reviews and evidence synthesis.
Current project:
Undertaking scoping and systematic reviews in cancer research within the Primary Care and Palliative Care Research groups to address specific objectives of the TRANSFORMing Cancer Outcomes in Yorkshire project.
Watch Olufikayo's latest video on Qualitative Interviewing in a Virtual Environment
View Olufikayo's publications on ORCID.
Selected publications:
1. Hasson. F., Nicholson E., Muldrew. D., Bamidele. O., Payne. S. and McIIfatrick. S (2020) International palliative care research priorities: A systematic review. BMC Palliative Care 19:16 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12904-020-0520-8
2. McCaughan. E., O’Connor. S., Flannagan. C., Maguire. R., Connaghan. J., Bamidele. O., Ellis. S., Steele. M., Wittmann. D., Thompson. S., Jain. S., Kirby. M., Brady. N., Parahoo.K. (2019) Maximising Sexual Wellbeing after diagnosis of Prostate Cancer. Developing and Testing Support Resources: A Global Approach. The Journal of Sexual Medicine 16 (4 ): S27 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsxm.2019.01.061
3. Bamidele. O (2019) Post Treatment for Prostate Cancer: The Experiences and Psychosocial Needs of Black African and Black Caribbean Men and their Partners. Doctoral thesis, Ulster University.
4. Bamidele, O., McGarvey, H., Lagan, BM., Ali. N., Chinegwundoh, F. and McCaughan, E. 2019 ‘Man in the driving seat’: a grounded theory study of the psychosocial experiences of Black African and Caribbean men treated for prostate cancer and their partners. Psycho-Oncology DOI: 10.1002/pon.5150
5. Bamidele, O., McGarvey, H., Lagan, BM., Ali. N., Chinegwundoh, F. and McCaughan, E. (2018) ‘Hard to reach, but not out of reach’: barriers and facilitators to recruiting Black African and Black Caribbean men with prostate cancer and their partners into qualitative research. European Journal of Cancer Care DOI: 10.1111/ecc.12977
6. Bamidele, O., Lagan, BM., McGarvey, H., Wittmann, D and McCaughan, E. (2018) “…It might not have occurred to him that this woman that is taking care of me has some emotional needs as well…”: The unheard voices of wives of Black African and Black Caribbean men with prostate cancer. Journal of Supportive Care in cancer DOI: 10.1007/s00520-018-4398-4
7. Bamidele, O., McGarvey, H., Lagan, BM., Ali. N., Chinegwundoh, F., Parahoo, K. and McCaughan, E. (2017) Life after prostate cancer: a systematic literature review and thematic synthesis of the post treatment experiences of Black African and Black Caribbean men. European Journal of Cancer Care DOI: 10.1111/ecc.12784
8. Bamidele, O., Ali, N., Papadopoulos, C. and Randhawa, G. (2017) Exploring factors contributing to low uptake of the NHS breast cancer screening programme among Black African women in the UK. Diversity and Equality in Health and Care 14(4):212-219
9. Ali, N., Bamidele, O., Randhawa, G., Hoskin, P. and McCaughan E (2017) Constructions of masculinity and help-seeking for prostate cancer. Diversity and Equality in Health and Care 14(5):254-256
Building on past successful collaborations, I have further expanded my collaborative network to include researchers and academics across the UK, US and Africa for my current and future research projects.
External roles
Invited peer reviewer for the following Journals:
- European Journal of Cancer Care
- Ethnicity and Health
- Cancer Causes and Control
- Qualitative Health Research in Psychology
Vice-Chancellor's Research Scholarship Award for PhD Research, Ulster University (2015 - 2018)
Faculty of Life and Health Sciences, Ulster University - Pioneering travel award of £2000 for knowledge exchange and research collaboration visit to the Department of Urology, University of Michigan, Karmanos Cancer Institute and Wayne State University, Detroit. (December 2017)
Doctoral College, Ulster University - Semi-finalist, Maiden Edition of the Vitae 3MT Competition (May 2018)
Faculty of Life and Health Sciences, Ulster University - Runner up, PhD Researcher Impact Award (March 2019)
European Journal of Cancer Care - Certificate of recognition for review paper (Bamidele et al. 2017) making the top 20 most read/most downloaded article for 2017-2018 (June 2019)