Omowunmi Afolabi

Omowunmi Afolabi is a clinical research executive, organizational leader, and systems thinker whose work spans clinical research operations, leadership psychology, and institutional strategy.

She is a clinical research leader at Yale School of Medicine, where she supports the execution of complex, multi-site clinical research programs and contributes to institutional efforts in workforce development, mentorship, and organizational culture. Her work is grounded in more than 20 years of combined experience across academic medicine, global health networks, and federally funded research programs.

At Yale, she served as Vice-Chair for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging within the Clinical Trials Office and Co-Chair of the Mentoring Sub-Committee for Future Leaders at Yale (FLY). In these roles, she contributes to initiatives that strengthen psychological safety, trauma-informed leadership practices, and structured mentorship systems that support professional development across career stages in clinical research environments.

She serves as Yale’s operational representative for a Department of Defense Clinical Network Award, supporting the coordination of complex, multi-institutional research collaborations across 11 academic medical centers and over 150 global partners.

Her career has been shaped by sustained leadership in high-complexity research environments where scientific rigor, regulatory precision, and human-centered systems must be continuously aligned. She has led the coordination of more than 50 global clinical trials and NIH-funded collaborations across oncology, nephrology, transplantation, and precision medicine.

Research & Professional Focus: Her professional focus includes clinical trial operations, ethical governance of human subjects research, trauma-informed care leadership, and organizational systems that support both scientific integrity and workforce sustainability in high-reliability clinical research environments.

Leadership: She has provided leadership across multi-site and multi-national research networks, with responsibilities spanning operational coordination, workforce development, and cross-institutional collaboration. Her leadership approach integrates clinical operations expertise with leadership psychology, emphasizing psychological safety, ethical practice, and systems-level thinking in complex healthcare environments.

Education: Omowunmi Afolabi holds a Master of Science in Psychology with training in Leadership Psychology. She has completed advanced bioethics training at Yale University, strengthening her expertise in ethical research conduct, human subjects protection, and clinical research governance.