Marufat Oluyemisi
Odetunde PT, Ph.D.

Dr. Marufat Oluyemisi Odetunde is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Medical Rehabilitation, Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Nigeria. She is a licensed Physiotherapist, researcher, and educator with over 19 years of clinical experience and six years of academic and research experience. Her expertise lies in the rehabilitation of adults with long-term physical disabilities, particularly individuals recovering from stroke and other chronic neurological conditions.

Dr. Odetunde’s research focuses on health outcomes assessment, prevention, and rehabilitation of neurological conditions using context-specific, evidence-based practice and digital health interventions such as tele-physiotherapy. She has a special interest in evaluating the health-related quality of life of patients with stroke and other neurological disorders through cross-cultural adaptation, translation, and validation of outcome measures. Her secondary research interests explore the knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions of health professionals, students, and community members regarding various health conditions and stroke risk factors.

She holds both M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in Physiotherapy, with extensive experience in neurological rehabilitation and clinical leadership. Over the years, she has held several key administrative and academic roles at OAU and the OAU Teaching Hospitals Complex, including Chief Undergraduate Program Coordinator, Postgraduate Coordinator, and Acting Head of Department. These positions have strengthened her expertise in academic management, research supervision, and leadership.

Dr. Odetunde has served as Principal Investigator on multiple research projects and has developed strong competencies in research design, execution, and collaboration. She has supervised more than 50 undergraduate dissertations, one doctoral thesis, and currently supervises two master’s degree students. Her research output includes 27 publications in reputable, peer-reviewed international journals indexed in Scopus and other recognized scholarly databases.

She is a Fellow of the African Research Excellence Fund (AREF), a recipient of the Women in Research Essential Grant Writing Skills Award (2021), and part of the AREF Research Development Fellowship 2023/2024 cohort. Through this fellowship, she completed a six-month research capacity-building placement at Manchester Metropolitan University, United Kingdom (November 2024 – May 2025), focusing on addressing health challenges specific to Africa.

Currently, Dr. Odetunde leads a Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) National Research Fund (2024) project titled “Development, Feasibility Testing and Implementation of a Context and Culturally Sensitive Home-Exercise Mobile Health Application for Nigerian Stroke Survivors.” She also serves as Co-Investigator on projects including “Analysis of Sleep Quality and Quantity among Undergraduates” and “Development and Pilot-Testing of a Clinical Decision Support System for Musculoskeletal Conditions.”

Dr. Odetunde actively teaches both undergraduate and postgraduate Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy students. She is an engaged member of several professional associations, including the Society for the Study of Pain in Nigeria, African Stroke Organization (affiliate of the World Stroke Organization), International Society for Quality of Life Research, and the Association of Academic and Clinical Physiotherapists of Nigeria.

She has presented her research at numerous national and international scientific conferences, including those of the above professional bodies between 2017 and 2025. Her most recent presentations were at the World Physiotherapy Congress in Tokyo, Japan (29–31 May 2025) and the European Stroke Organization Conference in Helsinki, Finland (21–23 May 2025).

Through her teaching, research, and clinical leadership, Dr. Marufat Oluyemisi Odetunde continues to advance the field of neurological rehabilitation and digital health in Africa, contributing to the development of contextually relevant, evidence-based interventions that improve the lives of individuals with neurological conditions.