Abigail Olajire is a third-year doctoral student in the Department of Communication. Her research investigates alternative epistemology of health and illness engendered by culture and transmigrants' intersecting identities. Her current research aims to achieve the following 1) advance theorizing of cultural competency within the context of African immigrants' unique health experiences, 2) understand how the mainstream healthcare system can be more responsive to the health perspective/discourses of immigrants to improve their health outcomes. She conducts this research within the context of information seeking, communication labor, narratives, and mental health. 

To this end, her research has been presented and recognized at regional, national, and international conferences such as ICA and APHA. Her research has also been published in outlets such as Communication Studies, Frontier in Communication and the Journal of Medical Education and Curricular Development; and under review at other research journals. Abigail currently serves as the vice president of the Graduate Caucus of the Central States Communication Association. 

In the department, she is a Graduate instructor of record for public speaking and serves in diverse roles such as Media and Diversity Center Undergraduate Coordinator. Also, in the last two summers, she has served as a research assistant with the Institute of Public Policy. Before moving to the U.S. for graduate school, Abigail has over five years of work experience as a producer and associate programs manager in the media and education technology field.  

Ultimately, Abigail hopes to be an inspiration to young people.