Ola Kalu is currently a Community Violence Prevention postdoctoral fellow under the mentorship of Rachel K. Myers, PhD, having joined in fall 2023. In this role, Ola supports growing research on evaluating hospital-based and community-focused programming regarding community violence prevention. This programming structures recovery for injured youth and their families to establish best practices and enhance understanding of outcomes. 

Ola’s body of research examines the sociology of stratification, health consequences of social and demographic shifts relating to minority children and women and utilizing critical frameworks as an asset-based approach to empower underserved populations. Her focus on communities deals with pressing issues like housing insecurity, limited healthcare access, and scarce educational resources. 

Ola’s dissertation research looks at the intersection of urban gentrification, educational outcomes, and health disparities through an introspective analysis which looks at the ripple effects of neighborhood change in Leon County, Florida. Recognizing the link between education and health, she explores how socio-economic shifts shape elementary students’ English proficiency and long-term wellbeing. Through multilevel analysis from 1999-2015, Ola decodes the dynamics between housing policies, educational resources, and socioeconomics contextualizing these findings within broader dialogues on equity, social determinants of health, and rapid urbanization’s challenges. Findings show the need for holistic strategies prioritizing vulnerable populations’ educational and health outcomes. 

With an expanding portfolio conceptualizing how race, ethnicity, gender, class, poverty, and inequality intersect, Ola has keen interest in methodological issues within social determinants of health research from a sociological lens. She brings over a decade of experience in transdisciplinary research, Title I teaching pedagogy, and community engagement.