Omolola (Lola) Adeoye-Olatunde, PharmD, MS, is the new Director of Community Health Partnerships
Omolola (Lola) Adeoye-Olatunde, PharmD, MS, has been named the new director of Community Health Partnerships, the community engagement arm of the Indiana CTSI. Adeoye-Olatunde is the Darr-Chaney Assistant Professor of Pharmacy Practice in the College of Pharmacy at Purdue University. She is also founder and director of HER Lab, a community-engaged research “collaboratory” for the Purdue University Center for Health Excellence Quality and Innovation (CHEQI).
She succeeds Indiana CTSI Co-Director Sarah Wiehe, MD, MPH, in the role.
We asked Adeoye-Olatunde to share a little bit about herself, her work, and aspiring to a culture where community engagement is a practice.
What is your professional background and experience?
I’m a pharmacist, researcher, and founder of the HER Lab, currently serving on the faculty and in numerous leadership roles at Purdue University—locally and nationally—focused on health access, community engagement, and workforce development. My goal is, and always will be, to use any access I gain to open doors for others to do the same.
What fuels that goal is how blessed I’ve been to find myself in environments—with the right people and resources—that helped me unlock “purpose work” that feels authentic and fulfilling. I’ve also encountered misalignment and moments often seen as failure. For me, those were redirections that further charted my path. They led me to spaces and partnerships where I could thrive—and now, I work to create those same conditions so that others can thrive, find their purpose, and be healthy enough to live it out.
What drew you to this role with Community Health Partnerships?
The mission and values of Community Health Partnerships reflect what what I do—partnering with community-centered organizations, co-creating initiatives that promote accessible, culturally responsive care, and shaping shared leadership in spaces where engagement is not transactional, but enduring.
Engaging with the Community Health Partnerships leadership team throughout this process only deepened that alignment. The culture felt like an environment rooted in truth, collaboration, and a collective sense of purpose. The opportunity to grow and learn alongside some of the most respected leaders in this space feels like big shoes to fill—but also the right ones for the path I’ve been afforded to walk.
I saw this role not simply as one to direct, but as an opportunity to roll up my sleeves alongside people who believe, as I do, that community-engaged solutions to health challenges should be the standard—not the exception, and certainly not the afterthought. This position aligns with how I lead, how I serve, and how I show up—with humility, hope, and an unwavering commitment.
What do you hope to accomplish as its director?
As director, I hope to support the continued evolution of Community Health Partnerships as a space where community engagement in practiced with depth, integrity, and bold imagination. My goal is to steward a shared vision grounded in the strengths of our team, the wisdom of our community partners, and the needs of the moment. I’m committed to building on its strong foundation while creating space for growth, curiosity, and new voices. That means strengthening trust, sustaining impactful initiatives, and aligning our work with the outcomes that matter most to our community-academic partnerships.
In a shifting landscape shaped by political and institutional change, I aim to lead with grace, strategy, and agility—remaining grounded in our valued while responsive to real world dynamics. In the near term, I’m especially focused on supporting our people and processes to ensure we’re valued, resourced, aligned, and equipped to do transformative work. Ultimately, I hope to help cultivate a culture where engagement is a practice—one where communities are not only at the table, but shaping the table itself.