Posted 05/18/2007

Banky Olatosi wins 2007 Trustee Fellowship award
 from USC Graduate School

Banky Olatosi, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Health Services Policy and Management at the Arnold School of Public Health, has been selected to receive a 2007 Trustee Fellowship award from the USC Graduate School. 

Banky, a native of Nigeria who came to the U.S. in early 2004, earned his master’s degree in public health at the University of Minnesota…in less than one year! 

His interest in health-related issues runs deep, as his family roots include a number of health professionals. His mother was a nurse and his siblings are physicians. 

At the end of his master’s program Banky was looking for a doctoral program to continue his studies.  His brother, an infectious disease specialist who practices in Camden, suggested USC. 

Unfamiliar with the school, Banky came to Columbia to talk with Dr. Carleen Stoskopf, then chair of the HSPM Department.  He liked what she told him and enrolled in the fall of 2004.  In addition to his studies, Banky currently works at the SC Rural Health Research Center. 

Banky, who has two degrees in biochemistry, says he decided that he’s not cut out for a career working in a laboratory. “I’m more of a people person. I like to get out in the field,” he said. 

His interests in graduate school have focused primarily on HIV/AIDS, but health disparities, reproductive health and infectious epidemiology also hold his attention. 

Back at home where he managed an HIV/AIDS program for two years, Banky saw first hand the effect the disease had on his friends and family members. As a result, his doctoral dissertation focuses on the disease and its toll on the people of South Carolina. 

Banky is studying the reasons why some HIV/AIDS patients in South Carolina drop out of the health care network instead of seeking available treatment.   

If all goes according to plan, Banky will finish his doctorate in August of this year. He’s looking for work and would like to return to fieldwork, gathering data and then translating it into lessons to be taught in a classroom. 

At USC, Banky counts HSPM associate professor Dr. Jan Probst as a friend and mentor. 

Banky says that Probst, who was recently named interim chair of the HSPM Department, is someone “who has pushed me really hard.  She doesn’t spoon feed you, but she will let you learn by making your own mistakes.”