Dr. Oluwaferanmi Okanlami

Dr. Oluwaferanmi Okanlami is the director of Student Accessibility and Accommodation Services at University of Michigan, where he oversees the office of Services for Students with Disabilities, two Testing Accommodation Centers, and the Adaptive Sports & Fitness Program. Okanlami also serves as an assistant professor of Family Medicine, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, and Urology at Michigan Medicine, and holds an adjunct assistant professorship in Orthopaedic Surgery at David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. He attended Stanford University, where he competed in track and field and served as team captain, earning Academic All-American recognition. Okanlami earned his medical degree from University of Michigan and matched into orthopedic surgery at Yale. He later completed a master's in engineering, science, and technology entrepreneurship from University of Notre Dame and finished his family medicine residency at Memorial Hospital in South Bend, Indiana.

During his third year of orthopedic surgery residency at Yale, Okanlami experienced a spinal cord injury that resulted in paralysis from the chest down. After two surgeries and rehabilitation, he regained some motor function and now uses a wheelchair. This experience provided him with a unique perspective on disability and accessibility in health care, motivating his work as a disability advocate and his efforts to create inclusive health care systems for patients and providers with disabilities.

Okanlami is the founding director of University of Michigan's Adaptive Sports & Fitness Program. He first participated in adaptive sports as a patient at Shirley Ryan AbilityLab and later became a coach and player for the River City Rollers wheelchair basketball team in Indiana. He has also played wheelchair rugby, sled hockey, and wheelchair tennis. At David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Okanlami contributes to the development of an adaptive sports medicine program. His catchphrase, "Disabusing Disability," reflects his mission to demonstrate that disability does not equate to inability and to promote accessible health care.

Nationally, Okanlami serves as the disability issues representative on the Steering Committee for the Group on Diversity and Inclusion at the Association of American Medical Colleges, sits on the National Medical Association's Council on Medical Legislation, and has participated in the Health Equity Leaders Roundtable Series with the White House Office of Public Engagement. As a member of the President's Council on Sports Fitness and Nutrition, he promotes physical activity and sports engagement for individuals of all abilities. Okanlami has also contributed to the National Institutes of Health Disability Health Research Working Group and the America250 Foundation Health and Wellness Advisory Council, and speaks nationally on diversity, equity, and inclusion in medicine.

Okanlami has received several honors, including the Craig H. Neilsen Visionary Prize for contributions to spinal cord injury, membership in the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honors Society, Michigan Medicine's Distinguished Early Career Alumni Award, the "A Teacher's Teacher Award" from the Academy of Medical Educators, and the University of Michigan's James T. Neubacher Award for leadership in support of the disability community. His work and advocacy have been featured on CBS News, PBS News Hour, MSNBC's Morning Joe, and as a TEDx speaker on identity and inclusion, establishing Okanlami as a prominent voice in medicine, disability advocacy, and health equity.