2025 Student Spotlights - Adebimpe Akinwalere - Health Science
As she walks across the stage to obtain her Master of Public Health degree, Department of Health Science graduate Adebimpe Akinwalere will no doubt have a lot to celebrate.
“Bimpe” as she is called by most, is an international student from Nigeria, known in her department for her cool, calm intelligence and compassionate character. During Bimpe’s time at CSULB, she was involved in research work with Drs. Kamiar and Arash Alaei, along with Dr. Brian Kwan, on the HIV epidemic in Tajikistan, and that collaboration led to three published articles. Bimpe also worked with Dr. Niloofar Bavarian on a research intervention, focused on prescription stimulant use among college students, which gave her hands-on experience addressing real issues affecting student populations. She also has served as a Public Health Informatics Technology intern at CAL2CAL Corp with Gora Datta, through the California Consortium for Public Health Informatics & Technology Program.
With all these accomplishments, and poised to obtain her MPH degree, you wouldn’t know from looking at her that Adebimpe has gone through a lot in order to reach graduation.
It wasn’t long ago that Bimpe was a student pursing a medical degree in the Ukraine. It was February 2022 and Bimpe had to be evacuated, due to the impending war in Ukraine. She was set to graduate the following May.
“It was a very brutal and scary time,” Adebimpe says.
Bimpe, along with her fellow classmates, were rushed to the Romanian border. Due to the influx of emigrating Ukranians, Bimpe sat at the border for two days without any food or water. When she did get over the border to safety, it wasn’t long before she hopped right back into the fray to help her other classmates cross the border to safety, and to help pass out needed supplies to others trying to cross the Ukranian-Romanian border.
Bimpe eventually was allowed to take her final examinations virtually and was able to get her degree. Now, a few years later, she is graduating with an advanced degree and has been recognized with several accolades, including the Graduate Equity Fellowship award (nominated by her department) and Outstanding Graduate Student in Research, Scholarly and Creative Activity – a CSULB university award.
“Those nominations and award wins opened doors for me, and the support that I got from Dr. Brian Kwan and others showed me that sometimes, all it takes is one person seeing your potential to help you step into it. I also want to thank Dr. Niloofar Bavarian and Toni Espinoza-Ferrel, who made such a difference in my academic journey.”
The most important thing Adebimpe said she has learned while at CSULB, is the realization that “delay is not denial.”
“Not everything happens on our timeline, and what feels like a setback in the moment, might actually be setting us up for something better. Looking back, I now understand why I got all those ‘no’s.’ It’s because something greater was waiting for me. If I had gotten those ‘yes’s,’ I might have missed out on the opportunities that truly aligned with my path. I’ve learned how to bounce back after disappointment, and that mindset shift has completely changed how I approach both school and life.”
Congratulations, Adebimpe!
