Dr Olufikayo Bamidele

Upon completion of a B.Sc. degree in Microbiology at the University of Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria at the age of 20 years, she took up various roles including teaching and banking as she explored her career interests and ambitions. Following a period of self reflection and discovery, she decided to come to the United Kingdom to study for a Master's degree in Public Health at the University of Bedfordshire (Luton) where she graduated with a distinction (2012 - 2013). Her Master's dissertation explored the reasons for delayed uptake of the NHS breast screening programme among Black African women in Luton, UK.

She then proceeded to Ulster University, Northern Ireland where she was awarded a Vice-Chancellor's Research Scholarship for her PhD titled 'Post Treatment for Prostate Cancer: The Experiences and Psychosocial Needs of Black African and Black Caribbean Men and their Partners' (2015 - 2019).

Olufikayo is passionate about reducing health inequalities in cancer experiences and outcomes especially among higher risk but under-researched groups. She is particularly interested in the psychosocial aspects of cancer survivorship, and how gender-culture intersections impact on illness experiences and healthcare access/utilisation among Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) groups.

She is an early career researcher with particular expertise in qualitative research, systematic reviews and evidence synthesis.

Current project:

Undertaking systematic reviews and qualitative studies in cancer research to address key objectives of the TRANSFORMing Cancer Outcomes in Yorkshire project.

Ongoing projects:

Experiences of cancer diagnostic pathways and care during the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
Olufikayo Bamidele, Obrey Alexis, Motolani Ogunsanya, Sarah Greenley, Aaron Worsley,Elizabeth D Mitchell. A systematic review of barriers and facilitators to access and utilisation of post-treatment psychosocial support by black men treated for prostate cancer. PROSPERO 2020 CRD42020171488 Available from:https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?ID=CRD42020171488

Olufikayo Bamidele, Sarah Greenley, Sara Macdonald, Una Macleod, Elizabeth D Mitchell. Asystematic review of factors influencing time to presentation and time to referral for uppergastrointestinal cancers. PROSPERO 2020 CRD42020165756 Available from: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?ID=CRD42020165756

Research Grants:

Bamidele O. A PhD study on the exploration of the post treatment experiences and psychosocial needs of Black African and Caribbean men with prostate cancer and their partners. Ulster University Vice Chancellor’s Research Scholarship, Fully funded tuition and annual maintenance stipend for the three-year period, Sept 2015 – Feb 2019 (Awarded, completed)

Bamidele O (co-PI), Macleod U (co-PI), Mitchell ED, Lind M, Walabyeki J, PRIORITY: Experiences of cancer care and diagnostic pathways during the COVID-19 pandemic. Yorkshire Cancer Research (TRANSFORM funding), £125, 927.17, July 2020-March 2023 (Awarded, in progress).

Kelly C (PI), Cohen J, Bamidele O (Co-I), Dawkins B, Huang C, Roberts H, Peacock L, Macleod U. Evaluating the effectiveness and acceptability of free door to door transport to increase the uptake of breast screening appointments in Yorkshire: A cluster randomised GP pilot trial. Yorkshire Cancer Research, £300, 000, Jan 2023 – March 2025 (Awarded)

Horne R (UCL), Purushotham (KCL), Moon Z (UCL), Bamidele O (Co-I) (UoH). Reducing ethnic inequalities for black women with breast cancer: the role of treatment uptake, engagement and support (REFORM-BC). Breast Cancer Now, £134, 687, Oct 2023 – Sept 2026 (Awarded)

Watch Olufikayo's latest video on Qualitative Interviewing in a Virtual Environment

Phase 1 Scholarship and Special Interest Programme (SSIP) on the MBBS programme

Development and teaching of the Module, 'Ethnic Inequalities in cancer service provision and uptake'

View Olufikayo's publications on ORCID.

 Selected publications:

1. Gillen P, Bamidele O, Healy M (2023) Women and maternity care providers experiences of planned home birth in Northern Ireland: A descriptive survey. Women and Birth, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wombi.2023.01.005

2. Ogunsanya ME, Sifat M, Bamidele OO, Ezenwankwo EF, Clifton S, Knight JM, Odedina FT, Greer JA, Dwyer K, Kendzor DE. Mobile Health (mHealth) Interventions in Prostate Cancer Survivorship – A Scoping Review. Journal of Cancer Survivorship. 2023 Jan 11. DOI: 10.1007/s11764-022-01328-3. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 36627464.

3. Wray A, Pickwell-Smith B, Greenley S, Pask S, Bamidele O, Wright B, Murtagh F and Boland J Parental death: a systematic review of support experiences and needs of children and parent survivors. BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care Published Online First: 16 November 2022. doi: 10.1136/spcare-2022-003793

4. Ogunsanya ME, Kaninjing E, Bamidele OO, Shahid M, Ton C, Anmol A, Ellis T, Parker D, Kendzor DE, Dwyer K, Young ME, Odedina FT. Quality of life in ethnically diverse Black prostate cancer survivors: A convergent parallel mixed‑methods approach. International Society for Quality-of-Life Research (ISOQOL) 29th Annual Conference, Prague, Czech Republic, October 19-22, 2022.

5. Ezenwankwo E.F, Nnate D.A, Oladoyimbo C.A, Dogo H.M, Idowu A.A, Onyeso C. P., Ogo C.N, Ogunsanya M, Bamidele O, and Nnaji, C.A. Strengthening Capacity for Prostate Cancer Early Diagnosis in West Africa amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic: Moving to Re-think the World Health Organization 2017 Guide to Cancer Early Diagnosis: A Realist Research Approach. Annals of Global Health. 2022; 88(1): 29, 1–12. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5334/aogh.3519
 
6. Cairns, J.M., Greenley, S., Bamidele, O. et al. A scoping review of risk-stratified bowel screening: current evidence, future directions. Cancer Causes Control (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-022-01568-9

7. Bamidele, O., Green, T., Tookey, S.,Walabyeki, J., & Macleod, U. (2022). A qualitative exploration of women's perspectives and acceptability of including new cancer awareness information in all-clear breast or cervical screening results. European Journal of Cancer Care,1–10. https://doi.org/10.1111/ecc.1357410 

8. Bamidele O., Alexis. O., Ogunsanya. M., Greenley. S., Worsley. A. and Mitchell. E. (2022) A systematic review of barriers and facilitators to access and utilisation of post treatment psychosocial support by Black men treated for prostate cancer. Supportive Care in Cancer. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-021-06716-6

9. Bamidele, O. O., & McCaughan, E.(2021). A constructivist grounded theory study on decision-making for treatment choice among Black African and Black Caribbean prostate cancer survivors. European Journal of Cancer Care, e13516. https://doi.org/10.1111/ecc.13516 

10. McIlfatrick, S, Slater, P., Bamidele, O., Muldrew, D., Beck, E., & Hasson, F. (2021). ‘It’s almost superstition: If I don’t think about it, it won’t happen’. Public knowledge and attitudes towards advance care planning: A sequential mixed methods study. 2021. Palliative Medicine 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1177/02692163211015838

11. McIlfatrick. S, Slater.P., Beck. E., Bamidele. O., McCloskey. S., Carr. K., Muldrew. D., Hanna-Trainor. L and Felicity Hasson. Examining public knowledge, attitudes and perceptions towards palliative care: a mixed method sequential study. 2021. BMC Palliative Care 20 (44). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12904-021-00730-5

12. McIlfatrick, S, Hasson, F. Slater, P., Beck, E., McCloskey, S., Carr, K., Muldrew, D., Bamidele, O., & Hannon-Trainer, L. Advance Care Planning: Exploration of the public’s understanding. Online Poster Presentation at the European Association for Palliative Care, 7.11.2020. P01-377. Available athttps://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0269216320958098

13. Hasson. F., Nicholson E., Muldrew. D., Bamidele. O., Payne. S. and McIIfatrick. S (2020) International palliative care research priorities: A systematic review. BMC Palliative Care 19:16 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12904-020-0520-8

14. McCaughan. E., O’Connor. S., Flannagan. C., Maguire. R., Connaghan. J., Bamidele. O., Ellis. S., Steele. M., Wittmann. D., Thompson. S., Jain. S., Kirby. M., Brady. N., Parahoo.K. (2019) Maximising Sexual Wellbeing after diagnosis of Prostate Cancer. Developing and Testing Support Resources: A Global Approach. The Journal of Sexual Medicine 16 (4 ): S27 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsxm.2019.01.061

15. Bamidele. O (2019) Post Treatment for Prostate Cancer: The Experiences and Psychosocial Needs of Black African and Black Caribbean Men and their Partners. Doctoral thesis, Ulster University.

16. Bamidele, O., McGarvey, H., Lagan, BM., Ali. N., Chinegwundoh, F. and McCaughan, E. 2019 ‘Man in the driving seat’: a grounded theory study of the psychosocial experiences of Black African and Caribbean men treated for prostate cancer and their partners. Psycho-Oncology DOI: 10.1002/pon.5150

17. Bamidele, O., McGarvey, H., Lagan, BM., Ali. N., Chinegwundoh, F. and McCaughan, E. (2018) ‘Hard to reach, but not out of reach’: barriers and facilitators to recruiting Black African and Black Caribbean men with prostate cancer and their partners into qualitative research. European Journal of Cancer Care DOI: 10.1111/ecc.12977

18. Bamidele, O., Lagan, BM., McGarvey, H., Wittmann, D and McCaughan, E. (2018) “…It might not have occurred to him that this woman that is taking care of me has some emotional needs as well…”: The unheard voices of wives of Black African and Black Caribbean men with prostate cancer. Journal of Supportive Care in cancer DOI: 10.1007/s00520-018-4398-4

19. Bamidele, O., McGarvey, H., Lagan, BM., Ali. N., Chinegwundoh, F., Parahoo, K. and McCaughan, E. (2017) Life after prostate cancer: a systematic literature review and thematic synthesis of the post treatment experiences of Black African and Black Caribbean men. European Journal of Cancer Care DOI: 10.1111/ecc.12784

20. Bamidele, O., Ali, N., Papadopoulos, C. and Randhawa, G. (2017) Exploring factors contributing to low uptake of the NHS breast cancer screening programme among Black African women in the UK. Diversity and Equality in Health and Care 14(4):212-219

21. Ali, N., Bamidele, O., Randhawa, G., Hoskin, P. and McCaughan E (2017) Constructions of masculinity and help-seeking for prostate cancer. Diversity and Equality in Health and Care 14(5):254-256

Building on past successful collaborations, I have further expanded my collaborative network to include researchers and academics across the UK, US and Africa for my current and future research projects.

University of Bath

Practice-based supervisor for professional doctoral student - Kayode Fadina

Research Title: Ethnic inequalities in care experiences of prostate cancer patients who use NHS secondary care services: exploring the perceptions of care providers and Black African and Black Caribbean men living with Prostate Cancer (2021-2027)

Hull York Medical School, University of Hull

Co-supervisor for doctoral student - Zoe-Ann Baldwin

Research Title: ENSHRINE: EmbeddiNg SurvivorsHip caRe INto haEmatological care pathways: intervention development and feasibility testing (Jan 2022 -2025).

External roles

Member, Clinical Advisory Group,  Empowering People with Prostate Cancer Project (EPPC), Prostate Cancer Research (PCR)

University of Huddersfield - Invited PhD Viva Examiner , March 2023

Mentor on the Academic Intersectionality Mentoring in Medical Schools (AIMMS) Scheme which is a "national initiative run by the University of Southampton in collaboration with nine UK medical schools to support the career development of minority women towards equal and authentic leadership in academic medicine". Details of my profile can be found at: https://www.southampton.ac.uk/medicine/about/inclusivity/aimms/mentors.page

Invited member of clinical advisory group for Prostate Cancer Research on their ‘Infopool’ study - ongoing

University of Bath - Practice-based supervisor for professional doctoral student Kayode Fadina

Research title: Ethnic inequalities in care experiences of prostate cancer patients who use NHS secondary care services: exploring the perceptions of care providers and Black African and Black Caribbean men living with Prostate Cancer (2021-2027)

Invited peer reviewer for the following Journals:

• Supportive Care in Cancer
• European Journal of Cancer Care
• Ethnicity and Health
• Cancer Causes and Control
• Qualitative Health Research in Psychology
• Health Expectations

Vice-Chancellor's Research Scholarship Award for PhD Research, Ulster University (2015 - 2018)

Faculty of Life and Health Sciences, Ulster University - Pioneering travel award of £2000 for knowledge exchange and research collaboration visit to the Department of Urology, University of Michigan, Karmanos Cancer Institute and Wayne State University, Detroit. (December 2017)

Doctoral College, Ulster University - Semi-finalist, Maiden Edition of the Vitae 3MT Competition (May 2018)

Faculty of Life and Health Sciences, Ulster University - Runner up, PhD Researcher Impact Award (March 2019)

European Journal of Cancer Care - Certificate of recognition for review paper (Bamidele et al. 2017) making the top 20 most read/most downloaded article for 2017-2018 (June 2019)

Winner, KE Poster Competition 2022, Knowledge Exchange Conference, University of Hull, 15th June 2022. Received a certificate and £500 prize to be used for conference attendance/KE Training

Recent external presentations:

Poster and Oral presentations at the National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) Conference  (8th -12th November 2021). Abstract title: Barriers and Facilitators to Access and Utilisation of Post-Treatment Psychosocial Support by Black Prostate Cancer Survivors – A Systematic Review. 

ISOQoL MM Bamidele - Recording on Navigating Power Dynamics in Qualitative Research.mp4

3Next | Global Nursing Leadership 

Poster and oral presentations at the Prostate Cancer UK 'Making Progress Day 2022' (January 2022). Abstract title: Black men with prostate cancer and their partners: addressing inequalities in research.

Invited oral presentation to the Prostate Support Group, BROS, Wolverhampton (January 2023). Prostate Cancer Research with Black Men and Partners: Evidence, Gaps and Priorities.

Invited oral presentation at the 2023 Colloquium on Qualitative Health Sciences Research in Oklahoma, University of Okhlahoma Health Sciences (May 2023). Abstract Title: A Qualitative Exploration of Women’s Perspectives on the Inclusion of Cancer Awareness Information in all-clear Breast or Cervical Screening Results (INCLUSION)