Folake Eniola is a social epidemiologist with experience in applied public health and place-based evaluation work. She has more than 13 years of experience working in research and evaluation capacities in New York and West Africa. Currently, she serves as a Senior Evaluator and Analyst with the Bureau of Maternal, Infant and Reproductive Health, at the NYC Department of Health, focused on evaluating the implementation of quality improvement strategies for reducing disparities in maternal health outcomes. Previously, she was the Director of Research and Evaluation for the Harlem Neighborhood Health Action Center, one of three place-based intervention sites run by the Department.
A graduate of Tufts University, Folake is currently completing a Doctorate degree in Epidemiology at Columbia University, where she also earned a Master’s degree in Epidemiology. She has a passion for education and has taught at the City University of New York – City College, NYU Global Institute for Public Health and at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, where she is also a Lead Teaching Fellow. Her research interests lie at the intersection of society and health, and broadly relate to global health equity, implementation science, and the exploration of social and structural determinants of population health and health disparities.
Folake’s earliest mentors include her college interviewer and her high school science teacher, who encouraged her to take opportunities that shaped her future academic and personal pursuits. She continues to work with students from underrepresented backgrounds by returning to her high school alma mater to speak with incoming and outgoing students and their families.