Awards

Titled Professor - 2019 - 2023

Vera Z. Dwyer Bicentennial Chair of Palliative Care

About Bunmi Okanlami

Dr. Bunmi Okanlami earned her B.S. in health sciences and her M.D. from the University of Ife in Nigeria. She completed her postgraduate training in pediatrics at Howard University Hospital and specialized in pediatric critical care medicine at Johns Hopkins University. Later, in 2008, she obtained an executive M.B.A. from the University of Notre Dame. She joined the Vera Z. Dwyer College of Health Sciences at Indiana University (IU) South Bend faculty in 2019 as the Endowed Bicentennial Chair of Palliative Care and as a clinical assistant professor of health sciences.

Prior to joining the IU faculty, Okanlami served as the medical director for Pediatric Critical Care and Pediatric Emergency Transport services at Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center and Beacon Children’s Hospital South Bend. At IU South Bend, her current academic focus is the development of interdisciplinary palliative care education at the undergraduate level. She also strives to foster regional collaborations to enhance understanding and increase access to palliative and supportive care for diverse people of all ages.

Okanlami is a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics and a member of the Society of Critical Care Medicine. Dedicated to improving the lives of children, Okanlami co-founded O’Hana Heritage Foundation dba A Rosie Place for Children. The Indiana nonprofit organization provides respite and palliative care services for children with complex, life-limiting medical conditions.