Ijeoma Okoye

What’s the most important leadership lesson you’ve learned?

To  be transparent, communicative, and open to feedback. It is very important to listen and engage with others to ensure you are serving and leading in the most impactful manner.

What do you consider to be your most important career achievement or milestone?

My most important career milestone yet is the successful completion of my PhD candidacy exam.

What do you aspire to accomplish in your career and why? What obstacles will you overcome?

I aspire to significantly contribute to the reduction of the malaria burden in malaria-endemic countries such as Nigeria. I want to be involved in the development of effective antimalarial drugs and the implementation of health policies that can help control the spread of malaria globally. I have this goal because, from personal experiences, I have witnessed the impact of this disease on the health, economic, social, and personal well-being of many communities in Nigeria. To achieve my goal, I will have to overcome the limited opportunities that are available to women, particularly women in STEM in African countries.

Describe an amazing opportunity in your STEM career.

An amazing opportunity was a semester abroad during college at the University of Oxford in the UK. This experience exposed me to students from various backgrounds and interesting cultures. I also got to take exceptional classes like the Psychology of Women, Advanced Pharmacology, and Factors in Personality and Health.

How has AWIS helped you professionally and/or personally?

I was one of the mentees in the 2022-23 AWIS Philadelphia chapter’s mentoring circle and through this experience, I met wonderful women in STEM in the Philadelphia area. We shared about our career journeys, our experiences with interviews, barriers in the workplace and how we overcame them, and advice for future career goals as well. These conversations and connections have helped me as I navigate academia as a PhD candidate and also in preparing to break into the health industry sector after graduation.

What is your favorite word? (only one word)

Faith

How do you define it?

The substance of things hoped for and assurance of things not seen

How has this word influenced or inspired your career?

At many times during my personal and career journey, I have felt tired, defeated, disappointed, and demotivated. But faith kept me pushing. Faith restored my resilience and kept me believing that I could achieve my dreams.

How does AWIS impact your career journey?

My experience at the AWIS mentoring circle showed me that I can succeed at my career goals and aim even higher. I met women who are doing outstanding things in their fields despite the barriers they have faced in their workplaces. I received very impactful and helpful advice to guide me on my career journey.

What are you currently reading or listening to?

I am currently reading The Fever: How Malaria Has Ruled Humankind for 500,000 Years by Sonia Shah.

What do you consider the best professional or personal advice you’ve ever received?

Keep working hard; the reward will surely come.

Ijeoma Okoye was born and grew up in the outskirts of Abuja, the capital of Nigeria in Western Africa. At 17, she came to the United States to pursue an undergraduate degree in Biochemistry at Vassar College in New York. During her undergraduate program, she participated in several internships conducting research in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, neurodegenerative diseases, and traumatic brain injuries. She also studied Biomedical Sciences at the University of Oxford for a semester. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she completed an online course on HarvardX, “Defeating Malaria from the Genes to the Globe,” which spurred her to conduct her dissertation on examining the antimalarial activity of bioactive compounds in traditional medicinal plants used to treat malaria in endemic countries. Her personal experience with malaria, her love for scientific research, and her passion for reducing the burden of infectious diseases in sub-Saharan Africa led Ijeoma to pursue postgraduate studies in malaria research. Presently, she is a third-year PhD candidate in the Microbiology and Immunology program at Drexel University College of Medicine where she studies the mitochondria of Plasmodium falciparum parasites to shed more light on the physiology of the malaria parasite and discover novel antimalarial drug targets. For fun, Ijeoma loves reading, watching movies, playing board games, and crocheting!